In two landmark reports this year on climate change, an international panel of scientists established that global warming is potentially catastrophic, and that actions by humans are the culprit. That begged the question, “So what do we do about it?”
On Friday, in a third consensus report supported by more than 120 nations, those scientists gave us an answer – several, actually.
The good news is that reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the chief means of slowing global warming, won’t send the world economy into a tailspin. But that news comes with this dose of reality: doing nothing probably will.
And if we don’t start now, it may be too late.
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlights several strategies for reducing emissions that are warming the planet by trapping heat in the atmosphere. To our state’s credit, many have already been embraced here, with a remarkable coalition of environmental, business, faith, utility and government leaders – and voters – joining in support of strong action to reduce fossil-fuel emissions.
State lawmakers, who already had adopted California’s tough vehicle-emission standards and provided a jump-start to biodeisel production, this year voted overwhelmingly to set emission performance standards for new power plants, and to adopt goals for reducing emissions and creating jobs in the clean-energy sector.
Voters showed leadership last year by approving a state initiative requiring large utilities to get at least 15 percent of their power from new renewable sources by 2020. Now Congress may be on the verge of adopting the same goals.
The Bush administration, which remains wary of solutions that could jeopardize economic growth, still signed on, signaling again that it finally “gets” the seriousness of the problem. China expressed economic reservations, too, but agreed to the final language.
That’s significant, because as leading emitters of greenhouse gases, the U.S. and China must lead the world in cutting back. The next president will have a major role to play in the development of a global agreement to replace the controversial Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Rather than stubbornly opposing solutions that could raise energy prices, the U.S. should focus on broader economic benefits.
As Friday’s report notes, “No one sector or technology can address the entire mitigation challenge.” Put another way, a variety of economic opportunities are available to nations, states and companies that develop new technologies to reduce or sequester emissions.
Our state is already ahead of most in that effort. Friday’s report is confirmation that we’re on the right track here, and a wake-up call to the federal government to catch up.
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