Earthside Comments: Another new report tells us that we need to take immediate action to mitigate the effects of global warming. This panel of scientists also makes the point that the debate about global warming is over -- it is happening and human beings are significant contributors.
Again global warming deniers are in a tizzie over Al Gore and his global warming movie ... despite the fact that almost all possible actions to reduce greenhouse gases are also beneficial to human health. We suspect that the deniers obstinancy is politically and religiously motivated -- little people with petty objectives. They attack Gore on his residential use of electricity without checking to see if it is 'green' power -- which it is -- the charge was a simple political smear. After all, the goal of environmentalists is that we can all use as much electricity as we need or want -- if it is generated cleanly with renewable resources.
And, we guess if 'god' is all powerful, then fundamentalist Christian-types must see human-caused global warming as some kind of assault on the notion that 'god' can take care of the Earth ... no matter what we do. So, people causing global waming must be refuted because it is somehow anti-'god' ... go figure ...
Link: Global Warming Debate Over, Time to Act Now | Reuters
Declaring the global warming debate over, an international team of scientists urged the world's nations on Tuesday to act now to keep climate change from becoming a catastrophe.
The international community needs to take stronger steps to cut the pace of global warming, adapt to the climate changes that have already taken place and ensure development can be sustained throughout the process, the scientists said in a report released at the United Nations.
"We make the argument that it is essential that we get started now: not next year, not next decade, but now," said John Holdren, a professor of environmental policy at Harvard University and member of the scientific panel that crafted the report. ...
... And while the recommendations are global, certain specific items are sure to affect the United States, Holdren said in a telephone interview before the report's formal release.
For example, scientists said no country should build any traditional coal-burning power plants -- big emitters of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide -- unless they are designed to be able to capture and bury the carbon dioxide they emit.
The United States, which emits about 25 percent of the world's carbon dioxide, relies heavily on coal-fired power plants. ...
... The report stressed the reality of the global warming problem now, and noted the inadequate response to the stronger storms, worse droughts and heat waves and more severe wildfires that are a consequence of higher world temperatures.
"We need to make greater investment in the capacity of the world to deal with those sorts of extreme events, not only because climate is changing, making those events ever more frequent, but because the suffering already associated with our inadequate responses to those needs to be corrected," Holdren said.
The scientists considered nuclear power as a carbon-free option, but said this energy source must address the problem of disposal of radioactive waste and break the link between nuclear technology and weapons proliferation.
Link: Olbermann on Gore’s Energy Use: Setting the Record Straight | Crooks and Liars
You knew after his big night at the Oscars Sunday, the far right would come out in full force against former Vice President Gore. Since these single-minded sensationalists never let those pesky "facts" get in the way, Keith breaks down the utility bill.
Link: Hatchet Job No Match for Gore's 'Green Power' | Tennessean/News Journal
Former Vice President Al Gore, whose film about his efforts to combat global warming won an Academy Award, is being called a hypocrite by a Tennessee group that says his 10,000-square-foot home is consuming too much energy.
The home's average monthly electric bill last year was just under $1,200, according to bills The Tennessean acquired from Nashville Electric Service.
"For someone in his position not to take steps to reduce his own energy consumption is disingenuous," said Drew Johnson, president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, a free-market think tank.
"As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk [the] walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use," Johnson said.
Gore's power bill shows, however, that the former vice president may be doing just that.
Gore purchased 108 blocks of "green power" for each of the past three months, according to a summary of the bills.
That's a total of $432 a month Gore paid extra for solar or other renewable energy sources.
The green power Gore purchased is equivalent to recycling 2.48 million aluminum cans or 286,092 pounds of newspaper, according to comparison figures on the electric company's Web site.
"An Inconvenient Truth," the movie about Gore's global warming battle, details how greenhouse gases are trapping heat next to the Earth, causing a changing climate with melting ice caps and more violent storms.
Nashville Electric Service gets its electricity from the Tennessee Valley Authority. Most is produced from coal, which emits carbon, a greenhouse gas. A lesser amount comes from nuclear power and a small amount from hydroelectric.
Johnson said he "doesn't differ much from Al Gore on his environmental concerns."
"We went into this just asking the question, 'Is the leader of the environmental movement basically living up to his word?' "
Tennessee Valley Authority: Green Power Switch
And if you didn't see this before, here is a Futurama movie trailer for An Inconvenient Truth.
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