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| Climate Panel Recommends Global Temperature Ceiling, Carbon Tax |
| 2007-02-28 |
| A group of 18 scientists from 11 countries is calling on the international community to act quickly to prevent catastrophic climate change. In a report requested by the United Nations and partially paid for by the privately funded U.N. Foundation, the panel warns that any delay could lead to a dangerous rise in sea levels, increasingly turbulent weather, droughts and disease. The report was issued three weeks after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that global warming is real and caused in large part by human activity. But unlike the IPCC report, this latest document makes policy recommendations. Panel member John Holdren of Harvard University says the world must be mobilized immediately to avoid catastrophe. "Climate change is real, it's already happening, it's already causing harm, it's accelerating and we need to do something about it, and we need to do something about it seriously, starting now. Our specific conclusions are that if the world were to go past the point of an increase above pre-industrial temperatures greater than 2 to 2.5 degrees Celsius, we would be in a regime where the danger of intolerable and unmanageable impacts on well-being would rise very rapidly," he said. The panel's recommendations include a series of steps to cut the rate at which temperatures are rising. Chief among them are a global agreement on an acceptable ceiling for temperature rise and finding ways of adapting to cope with the damage already done. Holdren, however, says even these measure will achieve very little unless they are accompanied by a global tax on greenhouse gas emissions. "We don't think ultimately society will get it right in terms of the full range and scope of activities needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, until there is an additional incentive in the form of a price on greenhouse gas emissions, either through a carbon tax or a cap and trade approach," he said. The United States is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gasses, but is not a party to the cap and trade system contained in the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. Nevertheless, the Bush administration has set a target of cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 18 percent by 2012, and is spending $3 billion a year on climate change research. Peter Raven, the head of the Sigma Xi Scientific society and co-author of the latest report, says success in limiting the effects of global warming will require private sector leadership, and a combined effort by the U.S. and the international community. "The private sector is doing a very good job, and kind of leadership we're calling for from the United Nations and international organizations and the kind of leadership the United States is moving towards will both be key ingredients in that," he said. A U.N. spokesman says Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is considering calling a summit meeting on climate change later this year. Environmental activists are calling on Mr. Ban to play a leading role in the process of negotiating a successor to the Kyoto agreement, which expires in 2012. |
| Posted by:Dave D. |
| #14 Hunter-Killer Teams! .com was right. These people and their supporters are in need of some pain. |
| Posted by: Chiper Threreger8956 2007-02-28 22:57 |
| #13 How about a carbon tax on opportunistic, socialistic blowhards like this for all the CO2 and bravo sierra they spew putting out this tripe. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-02-28 20:19 |
| #12 How 'bout a carbon tax on private jets. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2007-02-28 17:47 |
| #11 and I'm willing to collect all the taxes I would promise to reduce the energy I use commuting by about 100%. Indeed I would also have all the alcohol delivered to the house thus saving that energy as well. I would also agree to have prostitutes visit the house but the family might object. |
| Posted by: mhw 2007-02-28 15:09 |
| #10 I'm accumulating the requisite assets as we speak to pay my fair share in taxes to whatever entity feels itself sufficiently empowered to collect a carbon tax. I'll be paying in lead. |
| Posted by: Lanny Ddub 2007-02-28 13:35 |
| #9 I 2nd all the above statements, but question: This article's been up for 5 hours now, and no Gloom/Doom road sign graphic yet? |
| Posted by: BA 2007-02-28 11:06 |
| #8 Just tax them every time they open their stupid mouths for spouting of said carbon. Asshats. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-02-28 10:18 |
| #7 Just tax Al Gore's electric bill. That ought to cover it... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-02-28 09:51 |
| #6 I'm struggling to find a non-violent cure for this elitist, manipulative, controlling bullshit. I don't think one exists. Acute lead poisoning (jacketed lead) would work. Taking control of research grants would be another. Both being impossible in todays culture. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2007-02-28 08:32 |
| #5 You shut the f*ck up too! I call for a moratorium on idiot statements from nose-in-the-air leftist assholes. |
| Posted by: Spot 2007-02-28 08:29 |
| #4 Gee.... I wonder who would be taxed and who would get the tax.... John Holden from the John F. Kennedy school of government - Harvard University: John P. Holdren is Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy and Director of the Program on Science, Technology, and Public Policy at the Kennedy School, as well as Professor of Environmental Science and Public Policy in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. Trained in aeronautics/astronautics and plasma physics at MIT and Stanford, he previously cofounded and was coleader of (for 23 years) the campus-wide interdisciplinary graduate degree program in energy and resources at the University of California, Berkeley. His work has focused on causes and consequences of global environmental change, analysis of energy technologies and policies, ways to reduce the dangers from nuclear weapons and materials, and the interaction of content and process in science and technology policy. John Holdren welcomes media inquiries on the following subjects. Additional experts may be found by clicking on each subject listed. You may contact faculty directly or if you need assistance contact the Communications Office at 617-495-1115. Arms Control Defense Environment International Nuclear Weapons Science/Environment |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2007-02-28 08:20 |
| #3 Global warming my a$$! .... It just started to snow in North Wet. Cure? No, curare is in order! |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-02-28 07:44 |
| #2 "We don't think ultimately society will get it right..." I'm struggling to find a non-violent cure for this elitist, manipulative, controlling bullshit. I don't think one exists. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2007-02-28 07:01 |
| #1 Gaia's my bitch! |
| Posted by: badanov 2007-02-28 06:43 |