Yesterday, Al Gore returned to the Capitol, but this time to testify on global warming and present an ambitious 10-point action plan for the nation. I’m glad to say that finally, even in the heart of Washington, the debate over the need to address global warming is over and we have entered the search for solutions.
He brought with him 519,414 messages from citizens asking Congress to take action on global warming, all organized very last minute, as a testament to how much we believe in solutions.
Check out Gore’s opening statement:
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/Yo7rmajxxnc" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Whatever concerns you may have about his personal climate impact, Gore’s proposals were bold, even visionary. They call for a dramatic and radical change in the way we run our society and present a vision for a new energy future. Today’s Grist article notes the days highlights.
Of particular interest was that Gore called for a 90% reduction in emissions by 2050, above and beyond the oft-quoted 80% reduction cited in Safe Climate Act, the only bill now in Congress presenting real global warming solutions. He also called for an immediate freeze on carbon emissions, and a moratorium on coal plants, recently advocated by James Hansen from NASA. Gore upping the stakes points to an important problem - there’s no way to be too safe - even an 80% reduction cannot ensure that we will avoid catastrophic consequences - we need to be thinking about truly fundamental solutions.
Gore also called for a tax shift to carbon and away from income, a commonly-cited but rarely considered mechanism to steer our nation away from fossil energy. Unlike a cap and trade system, which would be imposed only on large industrial emitters, carbon taxes would provide an incentive for everyone to switch away from fossil energy, and if distributed well could actually help communities finance their own local energy transitions, avoiding the costs imposed by the tax. Since Gore also suggested allocating part of this fund to help low-income fuel users and establish an Electranet for local people to drive community energy projects, it’s clear he’s presenting a vision based on people power - local energy generation driving economic opportunity and a community development. It’s clear that the vision here is a long term transition - a forceful and innovative investment in a new energy future.
I think America’s ready.
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why is carbon alone the enemy? what about methane? what about the ridiculous amount of animals the us raises for meat consumption (10 billion slaughtered a year! just for the US!)? the UN’s report on climate change indicates meat consumption to be a BIG issue in the global warming equation. just some food for thought, so that maybe we can start having thought for food. peace, Evan
A brief note from the post author responding to the above comment: carbon does not mean carbon dioxide, it includes other green house gasses like methane (carbon with four hydrogens rather than two oxygens). Global warming pollution is expressed in terms of carbon equivilents. The food production, and other emissions sectors are important too, though they obviously relate back to high-energy agriculture production and thus fossil fuels. As Evan noted, we need to fix the whole system.
Aaaah! Thank you Timothy for clearing up a misconception I had. Thank you very much. peace and blessings, Evan