Dickinson to Durban » Archive
As the Gap Widens
By: Christine Burns ’14 The issues surrounding responsibility for climate change stem from an inequality between developed and developing nations. This inequality makes it difficult for them to see eye to eye, on issues such as responsibility for causing climate change and for fixing climate change.When it comes down to it, it does not matter who is responsible, because everyone is affected by climate change. We can play the blame game, but that is not going to solve anything. Yet, it must be said that developed nations such as the United States and Europe are predominately responsible for the climate change that is starting to be seen now (Bulkeley and Newell). They went through their industrial revolutions 150 years ago during which they relied heavily on fossil fuels, and since then … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change
This won’t be easy, folks.
Chapter 5 of A Climate of Injustice by J. Timmons Roberts and Bradley Parks illustrates a set of approaches for allocating greenhouse gas targets. One of the four approaches stood out to me. The strategy in question was proposed by India, China and the Group of 77 and has been endorsed by France, Switzerland and the European Union; it is called the “Per-capita” strategy by Roberts and Parks. This approach is embodied in the emissions … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues
SHOW ME THE MONEY!!
As many know, developed countries such as the United States, have been the primary emitters of Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) and are often accused of causing global climate change. This may be so, but pointing fingers will only get us so far. What we need to look at going forward is how to mitigate the problem of global climate change and where the future emissions will come from. With more and more countries trying to make the move from “developing” to “developed”, we are bound to see a slew of industrial revolutions and thus a significant in GHG emission from countries that currently produce the smallest amounts. How do we prevent these increased emissions while still allowing these developing countries to prosper? Sustainable development! One problem, sustainable development is expensive, far more so … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues, Mosaic Action
Who created the mess? Who’s going to clean it up?
Presently, it has been established by the scientific community that global warming is a global concern, of various degrees of concern to each one of the 7 billion and growing members of the world. This is where the problem of ascribing blame to those who “caused” climate change occurs. So who is responsible for climate change? And who must pay? Bulkeley and Newell argue, almost point blank to their audience, that climate change is caused by the developed countries of the world, such as the United States. However, they also claim that there are many “countries whose emissions trajectories will soon match those of the United States, EU, and Japan.” These countries include China, Brazil, and India, countries whose rapid development, is unfortunately occurring in a time when carbon emissions tied … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Environmental Politics
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