BLOG
Fox News Global Warming Poll
-- Adam -- 02/12/2007
A Fox News Poll conducted 1/30-31 and released recently shows positive movement on the issue of climate change among Americans. 82 percent of Americans say they believe that global warming is, in fact, real. That's a small but significant increase from the last time the question was asked in October 2005. A full 79% of those surveyed linked global warming to human activities, with over half of that group saying humans were the sole cause. "Sizable majorities" of Democrats, Republicans and independents say the problem exists. Even as the least convinced group (for lack of a better descriptor), a whopping 72% of Republicans believe there is some link between human activities and climate change. Of all groups, 79% of the respondents said they knew the issue at least "somewhat well". Overall, it seems like more Americans than before will be listening for solutions to global warming.
Gov. Huckabee Brings Boy Scout Rule to Global Warming
-- John -- 02/12/2007
With respect to global warming, while Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) is as yet unwilling to ascribe definitively human causes to its growth, saying, "Scientists are all over the board on that." The governor does feel we have a special duty to protect our natural heritage, a conviction that he says comes from an evangelical perspective. "If I believe there is a Creator, and this is His creation, then we have a responsibility to take care of it," he told reporters at a February 12 press conference in Columbia, S.C. Governor Huckabee spent the weekend touring the state to shore up support for a possible run for the presidency. When it was pointed out that a recent poll by the South Carolina Wildlife Federation found that a significant majority (65%) of South Carolina hunters and anglers feel that global warming is a serious issue, Huckabee responded that he is a long-time member of the NRA, Ducks Unlimited and is an avid bass fisherman. And so with respect to our planet, Governor Huckabee promises to apply the "old Boy Scout rule" - "Leave the campsite better than you found it."
‘The Most Serious Thing I’ve Confronted’
-- Mike -- 02/12/2007
John Kerry appeared on ABC's "This Week" yesterday and talked about what his decision not to run for president means:
"By not running, what I say about it now is outside of the cloud of oh, he's running for president and this is why he's saying it. I'm liberated, and I can say what I believe and think which is the same, but I hope will be understood differently. And, secondly, global climate change -- it's getting a little into that cliched atmosphere. It is ... the most serious thing that I've confronted since I've been here. ... Teresa and I have just been writing a book somewhat about that, not exclusively. The more I read, the more I study, the more compelling that issue becomes."
Weekend Round Up
-- Mike -- 02/12/2007
Brownback in Michigan:
[Brownback] also called for wiping out cancer in 10 years and for putting more resources into alternative energy.
"Michigan is going to be a key state in getting that done," he said, noting its efforts to encourage the production of ethanol and biodiesel.
Clinton in New Hampshire:
Developing new ways to produce energy, [Clinton] said, would create jobs and allow the nation to end its "dependence on foreign oil."
"The first thing," she cautioned, "is to get the government to realize that (global warming) is a threat."
Giuliani in California:
Giuliani met for about an hour Friday night with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, also a Republican. Schwarzenegger urged him to help bring about a national debate on health care reform and the country's dependence on fossil fuel.
Hagel in Virginia:
Hagel, a possible 2008 Republican presidential contender, told students, faculty and others that despite the obstacles, America faces "limitless opportunities" because many issues are interconnected globally.
Climate change, terrorism, pandemic health worries, poverty and the spread of radical fundamentalism cannot be solved without U.S. leadership working with allies for common solutions, he said.
Obama in Illinois:
On a global scale, Obama addressed the issue of global warming and what must be done to change the effects of it.
"We can set up a system for capping greenhouse gases. We can turn this crisis of global warming into a moment of opportunity for innovation, job creation and an incentive for businesses that will serve as a model for the world," Obama said.
Edwards: Fighting Poverty Meets New Energy Future
-- John -- 02/10/2007
Speaking at a town hall meeting of nearly 400 people in Charleston, South Carolina last Thursday, John Edwards offered a novel solution to the age-old problem of poverty in America. Among other clean-energy initiatives, his non-profit service organization, One Corps, uses high-efficiency compact florescent light bulbs in its home-building projects. According to the former North Carolina senator, "Community grassroots activism is what we ought to be doing as a nation." And to this end, embracing the new energy future provides one means of creating economic opportunity in sectors that have been hurt by globalization. According to Edwards, "We can use the transformation of our economy from our addiction to oil as a basis for creating jobs in the areas that have been hit hardest by globalization." During the meeting Edwards listed energy reform among his top three priorities, along with Iraq and health care.
Virgin Earth Challenge
-- Adam -- 02/09/2007
Richard Branson just annouced he's offering, as part of his Virgin Earth Challenge, $25 million to someone who can develop a technology to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, Reuters reports. Caps and reducing emissions alone may not be enough to prevent some of the many horrendous impacts from climate change. He said, "Unless we can devise a way of removing CO2 (carbon dioxide) from the earth's atmosphere we will lose half of all species on earth, all the coral reefs, 100 million people will be displaced, farmlands will become deserts and rain forests wastelands." The winner will be identified by a panel of judges, including Branson and scientist James Hansen. There are ways in development to store carbon dioxide once it's captured, but a big piece of the puzzle, cleaning out gases we've already released, may need this new incentive to become reality before much devastation has occured. Hopefully we can look forward to new attention from the scientific community and more solutions available to policymakers.
‘What Could Be a Bigger Issue?’
-- Mike -- 02/09/2007
Washington Post White House reporter Michael Fletcher participated yesterday in an online chat about the latest political news, and it included this exchange:
Washington: Michael, on Friday an international panel of scientists released a report on climate change, agreeing that global warming is here and that it almost certainly is a result of human activity. I was surprised (and frankly disappointed) to see that it had legs for, oh, a single news cycle. Do you see climate change as being a significant part of the debate in the presidential campaign?
Michael Fletcher: Yes, yes, yes. It feels like this issue is penetrating the public after years of floating in the realm of the abstract. The report probably didn't have legs, as you put it, because I think most of the scientific community already had drawn that conclusion. But now, for example, you see the Bush administration explaining that the president long has acknowledged the huge human component in global warming, and the president even invoked it in his State of the Union address. I bet this is only the beginning. After all, what could be a bigger issue?
Promise from the Hill
-- Adam -- 02/08/2007
John Donnelly, in an article today for the Boston Globe, suggests that the recnt attention to climate change in Washington is just the beginning. The 2007 IPCC report contributed further to increasing politicians' interest in the topic and how it might affect their constituents. Growing public knowledge of the warming threat have no doubt given new energy to the current hearings on Capitol Hill, of which Donnelly argues we will see a good bit more of in the coming year. The new Senate Subcommittee on Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection will provide a forum for policymakers, including several presidential contenders, to learn and have focused debates about not just global warming but a whole series of impacts and solutions. It should be interesting to see where we'll be once the primaries begin and how candidates channel the inertia of the issue.
Global Warming: A Titanic Global Experiment?
-- Katie -- 02/07/2007
Former New York Times environmental reporter William K. Stevens wrote a great opinion piece in yesterday's NY Times. Stevens reflects on the sea change in scientific opinion on global warming since he covered the issue for the Times (he retired in 2000).
Throughout most of Stevens' tenure at the Times, there was still some skepticism about global warming. Although there was compelling research on global warming, many scientists were not sure yet whether it was caused by humans or a natural part of earth's cycle. But each successive report since the 1990's has had stronger evidence that humans are indeed causing global warming, leading to the latest report by the IPCC that humans are all but certainly the cause of global warming. With that knowledge, Mr. Stevens writes:
Some experts believe that no matter what humans do to try to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, a doubling is all but inevitable by 2100. In this view, the urgent task ahead is to keep them from rising even higher.
If the concentrations were to triple, and even if they just double, there is no telling at this point what the world will really be like as a result, except to speculate that on balance, most of its inhabitants probably won't like it much. If James E. Hansen, one of the bolder climate scientists of the last two decades, is right, they will be living on a different planet.
It has been pointed out many times, including by me, that we are engaged in a titanic global experiment. The further it proceeds, the clearer the picture should become.
With every successive year, we are experiencing hotter temperatures, shrinking ice caps and more storms like Katrina. And every year we are learning more about how our actions are affecting our planet. What are we waiting for? There are solutions out there to curb our greenhouse emissions. If we are not willing to take the steps to do this soon, we may not be able to stop what is happening to our planet.
Volcker on the Economy and Global Warming
-- Adam -- 02/06/2007
Paul Volcker, former Fed chair who tackled stagflation during the 70's, made strong statements in support of controlling greenhouse emissions today in Cairo, the AP reports. "Volcker said the argument that taxes on oil or carbon emissions, for example, would ruin an economy was 'fundamentally false.'" He went on to say economic controls on carbon emissions would have little negative impact on the full economy and that the ramifications would be much worse in a few decades without intervention. Taxing petroleum or resulting emissions would be an "effective" way to prevent disastrous climatic changes, Volcker argues. "A lot of people in the United States haven't been convinced that it's a problem. Now I think that is changing. The evidence is becoming so strong that may be we are building a base for a political understanding that hasn't been there before."
0 comments