Comments on: House Leaders Make Global Warming Action a Priority

By: Climate 411 » Will the House Follow the Senate on a Climate Bill? - Blogs & Podcasts - Environmental Defense Fund

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:21:43 +0000

[...] Nancy Pelosi and other House leaders have pledged to make global warming a priority. And key House committee leaders John Dingell (D-MI) and Rick Boucher (D-VA) have drafted the first [...]

By: Sam Parry

Sam Parry — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:26:26 +0000

Thank you for your comment, Sebb. I think we may actually be in total agreement.

Environmental Defense supports a hard cap that will reduce America's pollution 80% below current levels by 2050. This is the level of reduction scientists tell us is required to stabilize our climate and avert the most dire global warming consequences.

We also believe that we have to start reductions now. The more we delay, the more severe the pollution cuts will be. That's why we are pushing so hard to pass strong cap-and-trade legislation this year.

It is not clear what the final language will be in whatever bill ultimately passes both houses of Congress, but we are firm in our call for a hard cap that will be environmentally effective and based on the science — namely, 80% reductions by 2050.

By: jenergist

jenergist — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:37:48 +0000

I hope we can help our congressional representatives to look up, take a big breath, and to let go of any parochial tendancies. Here are perspectives which I think are critical educational components which need endless repetition. The costs of even stringent greenhouse gas reductions is only a slight slowing of economic growth. Greenhouse gasses stay in the atmosphere for decades and we, the industrial west have been heavily polluting the air (a global commons) for decades. There is no earthly reason why we should expect the developing countries to start cleaning up our mess. We must lead the way and then negotiate their participation. By any measure of equity we can afford the cost in ways that developing countries cannot. Ultimately we MUST bring the world together on this and that will in the long run mean a quota per capita. Right now our gluttonous use of energy means that we are emitting many fold more emissionns per person than the heavy emitting developing countires such as China, Malaysia, India, Mexico, and Brazil.

We need an American spirit that says, hey, let's just be fair and realize we are the biggest cause, the richest country, and have the best technology to make a change. Let's do it now, like most of the rest of the developed world has already begun to do. We can negotiate with the developing countries once we show the way!

By: Sebb

Sebb — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:07:04 +0000

The last time I heard from Environmental Defense you were supporting a bill that had get-out clauses dependent on economic activity. I don't believe in giving politicians that kind of leeway. We need to reduce greenhouse gasses, and the planet doesn't particularly care what our current economic activity is. If you allow a get out you double the administrative difficulty and you halve the impact. Keep it simple, keep it clean.
Sebb