Dickinson to Durban » Entries tagged with "climate change"
“But it will ruin our economy!”
by Claire Tighe ’13 Does curbing emissions mean compromising potential economic development? In their WorldWatch Report entitled “Renewable Revolution: Low-Carbon Energy by 2030,” Sawin and Moomaw argue that it does not. (Even though simultaneously curbing economic development might not be such a bad thing, considering the effects of the United States’ exponential growth on a very limited aggregation of resources: the natural environment. In fact, less development for industrialized countries might even be preferable considering the projections for dangerous climate change if we continue to function with a “business-as-usual” model for emissions. If you’re curious about the environmental approach claiming that a cap on growth might not be so bad, check out Bill McKibben’s most recent book, Eaarth.) Instead, Sawin and Moomaw claim that “the way forward must be to focus … Read entire article »
Filed under: Carbon Markets, Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues
What America Can (and should) Learn from Europe
By Timothy Damon ’12 America has a long and proud history of firsts – the first airplane, the first man on the moon, and so forth. This heritage makes it all the more surprising that the United States would give up its leadership in innovation when it comes to the world’s greatest problem: climate change. One of the largest examples is allowing Europe to establish the first-ever market mechanism for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In 2005, the European Union (EU) implemented the Emissions Trading System (ETS), a cap-and-trade system aimed at reducing its GHG emissions. The principle of cap-and-trade (C&T) is relatively simple, and the idea actually came from a previous program the US EPA used to fight acid rain pollution. Basically the government sets an annual limit on GHG emissions … Read entire article »
Filed under: Carbon Markets, Climate Change, Summer Reading Responses
The Key To International Negotiations?
by Claire Tighe ’13 In order to maintain a livable atmosphere for life on Earth, big polluters such as the United States, need to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions. Without either a carbon cap-and-trade system or a carbon tax imposed by the federal government, the future of climate change looks bleak, particularly in relation to the pending international climate change agreements (For a great introduction of the dynamics and concerns of the cap-and-trade system, see Holme Hummel’s slideshow). As economist Nat Keohane presents in his video about cap-and-trade here, a concrete, comprehensive domestic emissions restriction will encourage other international states to create their own policies, or even sign onto a post-Kyoto agreement. If competing countries, such as China, see that the United States has made a commitment to cut carbon, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Carbon Markets, Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues, Summer Reading Responses
Baby Steps?
by Claire Tighe ’13 According to the UNFCCC website, the Cancún Agreement, resolved in Mexico at COP16 in 2010, accomplished quite a bit for the continued international efforts at mitigating and adapting to climate change. However, negotiations are by no means complete, and delegates at COP17 will have to continue these “baby” steps in the climate agreements. But are “baby steps” enough to solve climate change? As the online science resource Climate Action Tracker notes, “Emissions are at a historic high while actions are not.” The Cancún Agreements did manage to form “the largest collective effort the world has ever seen to reduce emisssions,” as well as “the most comprehensive package ever agree by Governments to help developing nations deal with climate change,” and a “timely schedule […] for keeping the global … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues, Summer Reading Responses
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