climate inaction

Big domestic news last week that the US Senate would not even debate climate change legislation in the upcoming weeks. This is extremely important news that I had to write about, all things considered with my work in Indonesia.

I'll explain what a little about what this means, legislatively, scientifically, socially and why I am beyond frustrated.

And if after you read you are as fired up as I am, PLEASE tell our President and/or your Senators that their behavior is cowardly, utterly moronic and a downright failure to our country's future. We can't wait any longer to pass STRONG laws limiting US carbon emissions. After much reflection and lost sleep on this topic, I whole-heartedly believe that the best thing you can do for the environment, right here right now, is tell your elected officials how important their action truly is. A few links to help share that message.

Environmental Defense Fund, write to President Obama

NRDC's Action Fund, easy way to find and call your Senators

A few other resources I like, from people way smarter than myself and even more fired up..

Op-ed piece from Tom Friedman, he has written a lot on this news

Another great opinion article about the Senate's failures

Building a Green Economy, a little long but highly informative piece on economics of Climate Change -from Paul Krugman



----
Why news of Senate climate inaction sucks.

The House passed landmark energy legislation last year- June 26, 2009 to be exact - which, among other features, established a cap on carbon emissions in the US. The bill wasn't perfect but it was a very important start. Interesting, President Obama says in this article that he looked forward to the Senate taking similar action...

So history turns out that the Senate didn't blink at their own version of the legislation in 2009. What that meant is that another year went by and utilities, banks and businesses surrounding the energy world couldn't adequately plan for their long term investments. And even more sadly, the Senate's 2009 failure signaled to the international community at December's Copenhagen climate conference that the world's per capita largest emitter of greenhouse gases -America! -isn't serious about cleaning up their acts. SO why should China, or India, or developing countries like Indonesia care about doing their part to limit emissions if the big bully won't? In my opinion, they shouldn't.

Stalling business development and thwarting international negotiations on climate change are my two most frequently cited reasons for hating US inaction.. I've got plenty more in the arsenal if you ever want to hear em.

Welcome to 2010. There are murmurings around when a climate bill will be taken up by the Senate. Versions of a bill come and go, some hope around Earth Day that bipartisan legislation will be released, but then Lindsey Graham gets all pissed off about immigration, pulls his support, and the new bill never gets seen. More murmurings earlier this month about a bill, but they came crashing down last week when Harry Reid decided that there just weren't enough votes to pass legislation similar to what the house signed off on last year. Bill is dead, best we can hope for now is some half-assed response to the oil spill.

If you remember your civics from 5th grade, if the Senate doesn't pass a bill and reconcile it before the current congressional term ends January, the House will need to start over. Everyone will need to start over, because it is highly unlikely the House and Senate will remain with democratic majorities come November's mid-term elections. But the politics and interests are complicated: 44 Democratic Representatives voted against the bill in 2009, primarily from coal-producing states.

A little on the science. Recently it would appear that the atmosphere is telling us something. NOAA released yesterday a "State of the Climate" report which "draws on data for 10 key climate indicators that all point to the same finding: the scientific evidence that our world is warming is unmistakable."

Their report also states that:

“The records come from many institutions worldwide. They use data collected from diverse sources, including satellites, weather balloons, weather stations, ships, buoys and field surveys. These independently produced lines of evidence all point to the same conclusion: our planet is warming."



NOAA also recently reported that last month was the hottest June ever recorded worldwide, and 2010 is on track, yet again, to be the warmest year since records began.

If anyone wants more resources, please, I am happy to share. Or if you'd like a refresher on the incredibly basic physics behind the heat trapping properties of carbon dioxide, I am also more than happy to help. The science actually is pretty simple.

Oh and remember this past winter? While we shouldn't attribute one season's erratic weather to climate change, the likelihood of many seasons deviating from the norm is great.. ie, strong snowfalls in winter, stronger storm surges in summer, longer more intense heat waves.. we've seen this all in 2010.

I do not expect change to happen over night. Completely shifting our country's modes of energy generation, transportation options and agriculture sector will take time.. alot of time. So the longer the Senate/Congress/Obama (who deserves his fair share of blame) sit and stew on fossil fuel driven lobbying dollars, the longer making those investments for healthier environment is going to take. All the while, more heat trapping gases are released into the atmosphere, continuing to cook the planet as Paul Krugman so eloquently stated in the NYT this week.

Maybe it is just easy for me to see, someone who's dedicated some time in a place like Indonesia. There are roughly 100 million people here (in a "developing" country) who live without adequate health care, poor food access and little electricity. They deserve a better quality of life. The government here will continue to provide that for their people - and most of that growth will come from fossil fuel energy. Should the US decide to shape up, take the opportunity in developing a strong renewable energy sector seriously (which, can't happen until fossil fuels are more expensive), we could help provide cleaner, more affordable energy around the world to people who need it. Oh and in the meantime we can reduce our own country's impact as well.



Picture from a new coal-fired power plant we made a special trip to see, being built in rural East Java.. everyone nearby was so proud about this! I don't know how proud they will be when the nearby waterways and air are painfully polluted in the upcoming years.

Or how happy we will be looking back on the present. When the atmosphere was speaking to us, the world was warming, we knew the solutions yet took little action... So I repeat, if you care about the environment, right now the single most important thing you can do right now is tell your elected officials to DO THEIR JOBS. I'll include those links again from the top. Every email for phone call makes a difference!

Environmental Defense Fund, write to President Obama
NRDC's Action Fund, easy way to find and call your Senators