major climate change conference coming up in Bali next week
November 29, 2007
Nailbiter. The upcoming climate change conference coming up in Bali next week is especially important (CSMonitor). On the heels of the four recent IPCC reports, it is even more imperative that world governments - especially the industrialized world - agree to take steps to majorly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The generally agreed target is that by 2050 we need to reduce emissions 80% from 1990 levels, in order to keep the average global temperature from increasing 4-7 degrees Fahrenheit during the 21st century. However, we can only reach that ambitious target if we take significant steps this decade.
In part, the urgency is because of the carbon load the atmosphere is already carrying - CO2 lasts in the earth’s atmosphere for around 100 years. Because of the carbon we have already added to the atmosphere, the global temperature will inevitably increase already; there’s not much we can do about it.
Recently, though, scientists have also discovered an extremely unsettling phenomenon that means climate change will probably happen even more quickly than they had projected - the earth’s natural carbon sinks of oceans and plant life (forests, etc.) are losing their ability to remove excess carbon from the atmosphere. They are becoming saturated with all the CO2 they can handle…. thus, there will be even more CO2 in the atmosphere, which will warm it even further. (I could even go on and talk about feedback loops and tipping points, but I have probably already made my point…)
So - yep. Bali’s pretty important. The goal is for policymakers to come up with a new version of the Kyoto Protocol - and this time, to get the biggest emitters (among them the U.S.) to sign and implement it within the next two years.
Given the holiday season, a workable climate accord would be a really NICE present.
Put a little holiday in your light socket…
November 28, 2007
I’m giving CFL lightbulbs and smart powerstrips for holiday gifts 
no, I’m not kidding, and yes, I do expect a big giant “uhhh….?” when people first tear off the wrapping paper.
Hey, whenever I blather about how people should change their lightbulbs, all I hear is “but they are SO expensive…” Up front they are, but you save so much money on your electricity bill later - $30 over the life of the bulb. (Dear family - this means you must just smile and thank me. Instead of a $10 gift, I actually gave you a $40 one. Truly.)
Those links are just to help introduce you to these products. Before you order anything online, it’s always a good idea to go down and check with your local retailer (in this case, the hardware store) to see if they carry these items. If not – ask. They can’t know unless you ask… and if they don’t carry the bulbs because they are afraid that they can’t sell the rest of the case, go nag your friends and family, book club, co-workers, congregation, whatever, to split the costs of an order between you.
And for folks like my sister-in-law, who really wants to budget to buy one CFL lightbulb per week but feels like she always ends up with the wrong size/ color, here’s a guide to buying CFLs (Energystar.gov). You want to make sure you get the right color temperature. (Also remember that some of these bulbs need about five minutes to warm up after you turn on the light.) By far the best CFL/ green lighting comparison chart I have ever seen is actually in print, not online – you can find it in the Real Goods catalog. It’s helpful in also understanding uses for LEDs (light emitting diodes), another emerging green lighting technology.
When your CFLs eventually need replacement, remember to recycle them appropriately because they do contain small trace amounts of mercury. I save the directions on the CFL package by storing them in my recipe file. Also check with your local municipal waste management, or with EnergyStar.gov.
There are actually black market CFLs (I kid you not) – don’t buy them. You will hate the color. Right now in the CFL market, you get what you pay for. Unfortunately, some big box home improvement stores carry the yuck brands, not the good ones like Philips or Sylvania. Beware.
Ah yes. As to why you want to buy CFLs – it helps fight climate change. Quotable from the EnergyStar website:
If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.
See? CFLs make really great gifts.
unfortunately, the poor can get poorer
November 27, 2007
You might not have thought the poor could get poorer – but with climate change, they can. Citizens of poorer and developing countries already suffer from more health problems than citizens in developed countries. As a new report from the UN concludes, with the advent of climate change those problems will only get worse.
Quotable, from coverage of the report (NPR): the phrase “adaptation apartheid” to describe what is occurring as a result of climate change. As report lead author Kevin Watkins explains Bishop Desmond Tutu’s use of this term:
Rich countries – who, let’s face it – are largely responsible for the problem (of climate change), are able to use their financial resources to protect their citizens while the world’s poorest people are in a very literal sense left to sink or swim with their own resources.
Climate change raises important an question for countries that provide aid to less fortunate ones: Where do you put your resources? Does it make sense to build a school in a community that has no water - what about funding drought recovery first? Since one of the effects of climate change is extreme weather, what about spending money on flood control, too?
Nutrition, education, transportation, health care – climate change impacts all of these aid initiatives.
waiting to exhale
November 27, 2007
During 2007, the wind power industry has already added more than 2300 MW (megawatts) to the grid, and is on track to reach 4000 MW by the end of the year (ENS). Needless to say, this increase has shattered all previous records. Texas, Colorado, Washington, and Minnesota were in the lead, with Missouri, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Iowa rounding out the pack, and with Oklahoma well on its way to becoming a major contender next year.
Kansas is of the windiest states in the nation, yet Kansas wind installations came in at 12th on the list, behind states like New York and Oregon (AWEA).
busy weekend re climate change
November 19, 2007
When it rains, it pours - especially with climate change (sorry. that was an awful, awful joke). Quite a list of climate policy action from over the weekend.
Summary, in order: Wow! Yay! Oh boy. Er..?
1. The Midwest Governors Association signed a historic accord (.pdf) on climate policy (ENN), agreeing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Quotable: “The Midwest stands to gain over 289,000 new manufacturing jobs if it makes a real commitment to renewable energy - a far better deal for the environment and the economy than anything on offer from Big Coal.”
2. A federal appeals court rejected the Bush administration’s CAFE standards for light trucks and SUVs, on the basis that the standards did not take into account the environmental impact of their emissions (Reuters).
3. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its fourth and final report (.pdf) on the undeniable trends of climate change, and the urgent need to immediately reduce global greenhouse gas emissions (of which the U.S. produces approximately 25%). The report will be used next month at the summit in Indonesia, where, global policymakers will discuss a climate change treaty to replace the Kyoto protocol (the U.S. has refused to sign the KyP). (NYTimes).
Scientists from the Bush administration also signed off on the report (NPR). Quotable: “Chief U.S. delegate Sharon Hays said doubts have been dispelled. ‘What’s changed since 2001 is the scientific certainty that this is happening.’”
There was indeed controversy among the scientists, however – not as to whether climate change is occurring, but regarding how fast it will occur. Some felt that the report was too conservative, and did not reflect the extent to which climate change is happening more quickly than previously predicted.
4. After a 13-12 vote, the Kansas Energy Council pulled a report on global warming off its webpage (LJWorld). By several accounts, the meeting seems to have been pretty confusing. However, council member Jeff Kennedy, an attorney who represents oil and gas interests, expressed the concern that the information did not accurately reflect KEC’s position on greenhouse gas emissions (earlier this year they voted not to take one).
The KEC also voted to review Sebelius’s participation in the Midwest Governors pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – see item (1) above.
Via Midwestern Governors Association, Sebelius takes a BIG step in combatting climate change
November 15, 2007
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has signed a historic Midwestern multi-state pact (.pdf) - Midwest Governors Association has announced a regional accord to reduce emissions and establish regional goals and initiatives to achieve energy security and promote renewable energy.
It’s a pretty big deal! Western Governors Association has also signed something similar. Regional leadership is definitely leading the way in this policy arena. Quotable from the press release:
Within the next year, Governors and other participating jurisdictional leaders will establish targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions and complete development of a proposed cap-and-trade system. Indiana, Ohio, and South Dakota are signing the agreement as observers to participate in the formation of the regional cap-and-trade system. Targets will be consistent with the 60 to 80 percent recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Full implementation of the accord will be completed within 30 months.
Schweet. And heck, here’s another quotable: “To support these shared goals, the Midwestern states launched new cooperative regional initiatives to address the following:
- CO2 management to create a regional transportation and storage infrastructure;
- A bioproduct procurement program to support the growth of the region’s bioeconomy;
- Electricity transmission adequacy to support thousands of new megawatts of wind energy;
- Renewable fuels corridors and coordinated signage to promote renewable fuel usage across the Midwest;
- Advanced bioenergy permitting to assist states with the latest technologies; and
- Low-carbon energy transmission infrastructure that will provide a cost-effective way to supply the Midwest with sustainable and environmentally responsible energy.”
Coal, China, India, Climate, and Dad
November 12, 2007
The International Energy Agency, a consortium of 24 countries working together on energy issues, just published their 2007 World Energy Outlook. It focuses on the impact of potential greenhouse gas emissions from China and India’s emerging energy markets and fast-developing economies. I didn’t order the full report but I did scan the Executive Summary linked above – it’s well-written and easy to understand.
Unfortunately, what I understood… eek. The report sent the NYT into a mild tizzy, too, but I’ll just sum it up with a quotable from the IEA:
If governments around the world stick with current policies… the world’s energy needs would be well over 50% higher in 2030 than today. China and India together account for 45% of the increase in demand in this scenario. Globally, fossil fuels continue to dominate the fuel mix. These trends lead to continued growth in energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and to increased reliance of consuming countries on imports of oil and gas – much of them from the Middle East and Russia. Both developments would heighten concerns about climate change and energy security. The challenge for all countries is to put in motion a transition to a more secure, lower-carbon energy system, without undermining economic and social development (emphasis in original).
Which leads me to… my Dad. Quite often, as dads do, he is wont to ask me what I am doing with my life, what I am interested in, my opinions about X or Y… and just last week, he asked me a very good question on exactly this topic – “With all the carbon emissions and coal consumption in China and India, why does it even matter what we do here in the United States?”
He stunned me for a second. Part of my surprise - at certain times in my life, I have been the one asking HIM a version of this question. Dad, things are bad, I’m not sure what to do, why does it matter and why should I try?
He’s never asked me before, though. And so it took a minute to switch gears and tell him what he has told me over the years. He definitely knows the answer (just like I usually did) but there’s times we all just need to hear someone else say it:
Yes, it’s bad, but you were raised to give it your best shot. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Doing this is hard and there’s a risk it might not work out, but it’s also the right thing to do. That alone makes it worth doing.
Thank you, Dad.
EDIT: yo! Dad! an update. There is movement of some sort from China on the emissions issue - they are at least trying to get 15% of their energy from renewables by 2020 (NYTimes, article is actually on China’s hydropower issues) Problematic and challenging as that will be.
