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Making Moves on Climate Change
November 15, 2006
World temperatures are rising to levels not seen in at least 12,000 years. Greenland’s ice mass is melting at “what NASA calls a ‘dramatic’ rate of 41 cubic miles per year.” And unless climate change is reined in, “extreme drought could eventually affect one-third of the planet.” More than 5,000 activists, scientists, and diplomats understand these facts and have gathered in Nairobi, Kenya for the annual two-week U.N. Climate Change Conference, which is in its final three days. Hopefully the 110th Congress will reverse the actions of the 109th Congress and the Bush administration and make progress on climate change. Incoming Senate Environment and Public Works chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) recently said, “Time is running out, and we need to move forward on this.” The Bush administration’s chief climate negotiator, however, promised conference participants that the White House would continue to do as little as possible.
- The United States is not doing its part to combat global warming. The United States is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, responsible for 25 percent of global emissions. According to a new study released by Climate Action Network Europe at the Nairobi conference, the United States ranks 53rd in climate change performance of the 56 top carbon dioxide-emitting nations. But Bush has contended that the Kyoto Protocol would be too expensive to implement and continues to shirk his campaign commitment to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. “If the USA, currently among the bottom five, were to exercise an international climate policy stance as progressive as the UK, it would move up more than 30 places,” notes the Climate Action study, “but because of their adverse position in national and international climate policies the United States blows this chance.”
- The administration continues to stand steadfast against joining the Kyoto Protocol. U.K. Environment Secretary David Miliband said, “It’s absolutely vital that the United States is party to the global commitment that is necessary. I can think of no greater legacy for President Bush in his last two years of office than to lead a bi-partisan drive to put the United States at the heart of global emissions reductions.” But no bipartisan drive is likely from Bush. On Monday, chief U.S. climate negotiator Harlan Watson defended the Bush administration’s stance against compulsory caps on global-warming emissions: “I certainly got no indication that there’s any change in our position, nor is there likely to be during this presidency.” He added that the United States “is doing better at voluntarily restraining the growth of such gases than some countries that are committed to reductions under the Kyoto Protocol.”
- The new Congress brings hope that serious changes may occur on the global warming front. Environmentalists likely won't miss the 109th Congress. Twice in three years, the Senate has rejected a bill from Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) that would have limited greenhouse gas emissions. But when the 110th Congress takes office in January, the new chairwoman, Barbara Boxer (D-CA), has promised to begin “a very long process of extensive hearings” on global warming and hopes to put together a global warming bill that addresses all contributors to carbon dioxide emissions. “He [Inhofe] thinks global warming is a hoax and I think it is the challenge of our generation,” Boxer said recently. “We have to move on it.” In the House, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), who is poised to take over as the Energy and Commerce Committee, is expected to hold a series of hearings on global warming.
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