By SHAWN DELL JOYCE
Creators News Service
A new optimism filled the air last month over Poland, where world leaders gathered to hammer out an international treaty to curb carbon emissions.
In a move that should make the U.S. blush at our own recalcitrance, 49 of the world's developing nations pledged to curb emissions. China, which surpassed the U.S. as the world's largest CO2 emitter in 2008, is now the world's leader in reforestation and other carbon-reducing strategies. Probably the most optimism was reserved for the U.S. delegation and the fact that our country had been absent from the negotiating table for much of this process.
"As I walk around the hallways, I hear lots of different dialects and languages and then 'Obama, Obama, Obama,'" Gustavo Silva-Chavez, a climate analyst with Environmental Defense, told reporters during the meeting. "So definitely a lot of the negotiators here understand that it's the end of the Bush era and the beginning of the Obama era, and they're very excited about that."
Many at the Poznan conference hoped that President-elect Barack Obama would be there in person. He wasn't, but he pledged: "The time for delay is over. The time for denial is over. We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now, that this is a matter of urgency and national security and it has to be dealt with in a serious way. That's what I intend my administration to do."
Some in Poznan were concerned that the now-global recession would hinder efforts to address climate change. Nobel laureate Al Gore pointed out that the solution to the climate crisis coincidentally would improve the economy, as well. "In the midst of this synchronized global recession, there is an emerging consensus throughout the world that the best, indeed the only way to effectively combat the recession is with a synchronized global stimulus," Gore said in his Poznan speech. "And in nation after nation, leaders have concluded that they must design a green stimulus and build the infrastructure for renewable sources of energy and put people to work retrofitting homes and buildings with CO2-reducing insulation and windows and lighting and more efficient technologies."
What would a "green stimulus" package look like? Gore suggests:
"Offer large-scale investment in incentives for the construction of concentrated solar thermal plants in the Southwestern deserts, wind farms in the corridor stretching from Texas to the Dakotas and advanced plants in geothermal hot spots that could produce large amounts of electricity."
Construct a national "smart grid" that would transport renewable electricity from the rural places where it is generated to the cities where it is needed. Power lines would be buried underground and would provide customers with information to help them use power more efficiently. The new grid would cost about $400 billion over 10 years, but it would prevent annual losses of $120 billion caused by power outages and obsolete electricity lines.
Help America's automobile industry convert quickly to plug-in hybrids that can run on the renewable electricity made available by the new grid. We could plug in our cars and run them on renewable energy, which would reduce carbon emissions and provide a means of storing electricity. Electric cars could be charged at night, when energy use is low. In the morning, cars would transport people to work. In the afternoon, when cars are parked and office air conditioners are buzzing during peak demand, the cars could feed electricity back into the grid.
"Embark on a nationwide effort to retrofit buildings with better insulation and energy-efficient windows and lighting." Buildings are the largest producers of carbon emissions, generating about 40 percent of CO2 annually, according to recent studies. This would benefit the economy, as well, because local energy auditors, insulators and other green businesses would be utilized. Gore also suggests, "This initiative should be coupled with the proposal in Congress to help Americans who are burdened by mortgages that exceed the value of their homes."
The United States needs a cap on carbon emissions and a price per ton that can be bought and sold on the carbon market.
The world has waited many years for the U.S. to accept responsibility for the mess we made in pursuit of our economic growth. Our next president will have the historic duty of negotiating an agreement to replace the Kyoto treaty in Copenhagen, Denmark, this year. Let's hope this new year ushers in a new era, in which nations work together to curb global emissions, lessen global warming, and preserve the remaining ecosystems on our planet before the damage is irreversible.
How do we make green jobs? Here’s an economic stimulus package that curbs climate change and turns around the economy.
