Obama Says US Needs to Take the Lead on Climate

I was so pleased yesterday. Not only was Obama visiting France, my home country, but he also made more exciting declarations regarding his vision of American climate policy:

“The United States is a very powerful country. But, as I said before, an issue like climate change is not one we can solve by ourselves. It’s going to require an international effort.

Not only are we going to have to look at what countries like France and Germany are already doing and making some very difficult choices to deal with their carbon emissions and to make energy more efficient, but we’re also going to have to talk to countries like China and India, and it’s going to be very hard for us to ask them to take seriously these issues if they see that wealthy nations are not taking them seriously.

And that’s an example of where we have to present a common front and a common agenda in order to get all the countries in the nation — all the countries in the world involved in what is going to be an enormous undertaking.

My goal is just to make sure that, whether it’s our European allies, whether it’s Muslim countries, whether it’s our friends in Asia, that people feel as if the United States is taking their interests, their concerns into account, and that we are interested in the prosperity and peace of ordinary people, and not just seeing our foreign policy only through the lens of our own security.” 

Absolutely. It is up to the US to take the lead. No more, ‘we are not making any move, unless you – China, India – go first’. 

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Barack in Berlin, a New Chapter in Environmental History

Full length video of Barack Obama‘s Berlin speech:

Because, you need to watch him to fully get the power of his words. I know some of you question his ability to deliver on his promises. I don’t.

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Climate High on Obama’s List During Berlin Speech

Today, in Berlin, Barack Obama delivered another historic speech, “A Word that Stands as One“. 

Obama's Berlin Speech - Credit: Michael Dalder, Reuters

Three times, he shared his sense of urgency about the need for the world to ‘stand as one‘, regarding climate change:

As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya…

In this new world, such dangerous currents have swept along faster than our efforts to contain them. That is why we cannot afford to be divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone. None of us can deny these threats, or escape responsibility in meeting them… 

This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. Let us resolve that all nations – including my own – will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere. This is the moment to give our children back their future. This is the moment to stand as one…

At this point, just words, but such a welcome relief from the kindergarten squabbles at the last G8 Summit, and on the Senate floor.  My heart was touched. And I feel hope again. How about you?

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Climate Drama on the Senate Floor

This week’s Senate deliberations on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Bill, made for a fascinating display of high-level politics psychology, all viewable on YouTube:

Yet another display of kindergarten squabble, this time from the Senate Republican Minority – with a few exceptions – How else would you call the ridiculous request of subjecting colleagues to a whole day of reading of a 500 page document?

Per Reuters, ‘Environmental groups were jubilant, even as the bill was defeated . “Today’s vote sets the stage for a new president and Congress to enact strong legislation that will more effectively build a clean energy economy and prevent the worst consequences of global warming,” a coalition of green groups, including Environmental Defense Fund, National Wildlife Federation and Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement.

I am not sure I can share such enthusiasm. That is placing a lot of hope in our new president, and in the Congress. It will require new anti-lobbying legislation, to minimize the power of the special fossil fuel interests, over our senators and congressmen. Also, climate change does not respond well to our human attempts at bargaining for more time. Every day counts, at this point.

Again, I ask myself the question of why? Why, would otherwise, well meaning, intelligent people engage in such destructive acts as denying their constituents the chance of a healthy place to live? All I can think of, is that these climate denying senators are the victim of terrible misinformation, on the part of lobbyists, and the Bush administration. They obviously do not understand the realities of climate science and economics. They may also be seduced into cheap populism, the same way Hillary Clinton tried to rally popular support with her gas tax holiday proposal. All in all, not a pretty picture, and one that raises issues of political ethics.

The solution, besides pushing for more Democratic representation in both houses? Maybe introducing climate change on the agendas of both Senate and House Ethics Committees? And asking that the next rounds of climate debates be preceded by introductory sessions on climate ethics.

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Making sense of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Bill

Barbara Boxer, one of the four senators to sponsor the Climate Security Act, touts it as:

the world’s most far-reaching program to fight global warming, instituting an economy-wide cap on emissions that would cut greenhouse gases below 1990 levels by 2020 and slash emissions by nearly 70% by 2050. In addition to fighting global warming, our bill will provide cleaner air, greater energy efficiency, relief for consumers, and the alternative energy choices that American families deserve — significantly reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Opposing senators, such as vocal climate denier James Inhofe, see it as a threat to the welfare of the American people:

Any action has to provide real protections for the American economy and jobs, and we must protect the American families. Any action should not raise the cost of gasoline or energy to American families, particularly the low-income and elderly who are most susceptible to energy costs.

For an objective view, I turned to a recent analysis from NRDC and The International Resources Group. According to that report, the Lieberman-Warner Bill will greatly:

• reduce our oil consumption and imports
• increase our clean energy production, and electricity from renewables,
• increase the number of fuel-efficient vehicles
• increase our energy efficiency
• all at a minimal cost to our energy system, less than one half of one percent
• benefit companies that lead the transition to clean and efficient technologies
• contribute to the creation of jobs, manufacturing opportunities, and spark innovation

I have always trusted NRDC on all green matters. This one is no exception.

 

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White House Admits to Reality of Dire Climate Predictions

Better four years late than never, . . . The White House finally issued a comprehensive climate report, confirming the man-made origin of global warming, and validating earlier U.S. specific predictions from the IPCC.

Nothing that we did not know already, but still, it is a step towards more transparency from the top. Bad news have never sounded so good.

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Facts

‘Greenland Ice Melt Speeds Up‘, reads the headline in yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle. According to the article, There was less sea ice in he Arctic on Friday than ever before on record, and the melting is continuing, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported. . . “It is very strong evidence that we are starting to see an effect of greenhouse warming,” he (Mark Serreze, senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center) said. The puzzling thing, he said, is the melting is occurring faster than computer climate models have predicted.

The day before, I reconnected with Luc Hardy, one of my old classmates from Ecole Centrale, my engineering school back in France. Luc has been involved with the Sagax Revo Greenland Project. The goal of the July 2007 expedition was to assess the impact of global warming on wildlife and vegetation in Greenland. He told me scientists on the expedition have noticed a strange phenomenon over the last few years. Ladybugs have slowly made their way to Greenland, and are now a part of the ecosystem there.

More alarming facts, and the sinking reality that we are running out of time. Still, frivolity got the best of me yesterday. I ordered two pairs of earrings and a bracelet from Dominique Cohen for Target. And I took Catherine shopping for clothes at Anthropologie. I let myself become tempted by a cute dress, a pair of pants ,and a sweater. They were almost giving the stuff away. Part of me still doubts the clear connection between my spending behavior, and the mounting increase in greenhouse gases emissions. I still have not made mine the Reduce in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

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Truths

Met with the French group to plan our next event, on the theme ‘Sustainability and I’. How easy it is for me to put my intellect at the service of this noble cause. And how much more difficult it is to walk the talk. This realization throws me back to the original premise for my blog. That I can’t be that different from my other fellow human beings, and that the real solution to the climate crisis needs to take into account two simple truths: 1) in general, it is easier to adopt new behaviors that are a source of increased pleasure or immediate gratification , 2) most of us will not sacrifice the basic elements of our lifestyle unless forced by rules or economic forces.

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