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1 - Global warming
2 - Dependence on
foreign energy
3 - Trade deficit
4 - Pollution from non-
renewable fuels
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Sea levels WILL rise more than four feet -- see page 4 (!)
This entry was posted on 11/19/2007 7:09 PM and is filed under Tax Shifting,Leadership,Global Warming,Action.
Why isn't this front page news? (not a rhetorical question)
In one of our local papers, the Wisconsin State Journal, it was on page four. Why not first page, above-the-fold?? It doesn't say "some" scientists; it doesn't say "may", it says "will." This is news!
It's from an article by the AP's Arthur Max, Report urges action on global warming, excerpts:
- "Global warming is "unequivocal" and carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere commits the world to an eventual rise in sea levels of up to 4.6 feet, the world's top climate experts warned Saturday in their most authoritative report to date."
- "'Only urgent, global action will do,' said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, calling on the United States and China - the world's two biggest polluters - to do more to slow global climate change. 'I look forward to seeing the U.S. and China playing a more constructive role,' Ban told reporters. 'Both countries can lead in their own way.'"
- "'Climate change imperils "the most precious treasures of our planet,' he said, and the effects are 'so severe and so sweeping that only urgent global action will do. We are all in this together. We must work together.'"
- "As early as 2020, 75 million to 250 million people in Africa will suffer water shortages, residents of Asia's large cities will be at great risk of river and coastal flooding, according to the report." (my bold)
- "Europeans can expect extensive species loss, and North Americans will experience longer and hotter heat waves and greater competition for water, says the report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the Nobel Prize with Al Gore this year."
- "The panel portrays the Earth hurtling toward a warmer climate at a quickening pace and warns of inevitable human suffering. It says emissions of carbon, mainly from fossil fuels, must stabilize by 2015 and go down after that."
- "Even if factories were shut down today and cars taken off the roads, the average sea level will gradually rise over the next 1,000 years to reach as high as 4.6 feet above that in the preindustrial period, or about 1850." (my underline)
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We will rue the days (years actually) that we have ignored this. Sad. The sooner we address an escalating problem, the easier it is to fix. Let's enact a phased-in, federal tax shift from income to non-renewable energy....now. By beginning to pay the external costs of energy use (yes, for renewable energy too - but, they are a drop in the bucket), we will reap immeasurable benefits for us, our children, and future generations.
P.S. - the caption on the photo accompanying the article was one of Greenpeace activists in a rubber boat "buzzing" a huge cargo ship carrying coal. Their banner reads "burning coal destroys the climate."
My suggestion: try to change public opinion about the need to change the rules and having all truly pay the external costs of using non-renewable energy sources.
Giving companies (that, by definition, have created jobs) a hard time because they are transporting coal (last I checked this is legal and coal keeps people warm and gives them electricity) is disingenuous. If they want to change the behavior of companies, change the rules of the game. It would be more effective to gain the support of the public and elected representatives for all to begin paying the external costs of non-renewable energy use by enacting tax shifts.
   
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