This reminds me of a scene from “The Inconvenient Truth” where Gore points to a 90′s poster that has the earth on one scale of the balance and gold bullions on the other. China now gets the pick, and if any of them have at least half an ounce gray matter up there, they will chose a policy unlike that of our beloved Bush’s administration!

His argument below:

It is mathematically impossible that peak oil will solve climate change.

Although oil is the biggest single source of energy-related greenhouse gases, coal and gas combined are bigger still, and the expected growth in their emissions would overwhelm any reduction from oil.

As I demonstrate in The Last Oil Shock using the International Energy Agency’s “business-as-usual” forecast, even if oil production peaks in 2010 and immediately starts to fall at 3% a year, total emissions would still rise by 25%, reaching 32 billion tonnes in 2030.

Yet by that time, we need to be well on the way to at least a 60% cut in emissions.

In fact peak oil could even make emissions worse if it drives us to exploit the wrong kinds of fuel.

Burning rainforest and peatlands to create palm oil plantations for biofuels releases vast amounts of CO2, and has already made Indonesia, according to some ways of calculating it, the world’s third biggest emitter after the US and China.

Synthetic transport fuels made from natural gas using the Fischer-Tropsch process emit even more carbon on a well-to-wheels basis than conventional crude; and when the feedstock is coal, the emissions double.

None of these alternatives are likely to fill the gap left by conventional crude – at least, not in time.

But because they are so much more carbon intensive, it is quite easy to conjure scenarios in which we still suffer fuel shortages while emitting even more CO2 than in the current business-as-usual forecast – the worst of all possible worlds.

One common sense solution left out of his equation is the use of electricity, which is not all the time, generated using coal or Uranium. Solar, wind and tidal conversion if implemented can and should be able to generate the required capacity to power our planet. If only we are able to overcome our resistance to change and the relentless pursuit of bigger and more polluting lifestyle.

China in a global sense is still a lot better than the US, but the current administration will continue playing hardball as long as China (and India) commit to tackle global warming.

With that said, China’s current plans call for the opening of a new power station every week, most of them coal-fired!

Source: BBC

Here’s a link to a recent interview with the author of the paper Tom Wigley of National Center for Atmospheric Research on NPR.

NCAR is a National Science Foundation federally funded research and development center. Together with our partners at universities and research centers, we are dedicated to exploring and understanding our atmosphere and its interactions with the Sun, the oceans, the biosphere, and human society.

Photo Courtesy: NASA

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Clinton administration tried closing this loophole by enforcing a long-ignored provision of the act, that requires plants to install advanced pollution controls if they modify or expand their plant. But changes on such large-scale does not happen overnight and plants across America to this day, continue to pollute the air with sulfur dioxide (over 70 percent of all coal-fired plants lacking sulfur reducing scrubbers), nitrogen oxide (over 90 percent of them lack equipment to contain nitrogen oxide) and suspended particulate matter (practically all plants lack suspended particulate removal capability), resulting in tens of thousands dying early due to lung and heart ailment and thousands more suffer from asthma.

This severe lack of regulation and foresight is indicative of the administration in office, although the US EPA claims to be an autonomous body, they are heavily politicized and influenced by the Whitehouse. During President Bush’s first term, the administration tried to lax regulations in favor of the industry and to this day refuses to ratify (other) significant anti-pollution initiatives like the Kyoto Protocol to curb (carbon dioxide) emission.

The regulation as it stands poses a challenge to our fundamental rights to access clean air. Unless the Clean Air Act cleans up it’s act, we are headed for a painfully long and smoggy future.

Picture Courtesy: alexvisani.com

Prime Minister Blair met with California Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), and signed a pact that makes the United Kingdom and the state of California partners in the battle against global warming. The agreement among other things will include sharing of research resources and technologies.

Shortly after the signing, Prime Minister Blair said “We are at least on our way to putting in place the framework that will resolve this problem,” he continued, “We know that the answers to this [climate change] will come in the end by the development of the right science and technology.”

California is the 12th largest emitter of carbon in the world despite leading the nation in energy efficiency standards and lead role in protecting its environment. According to a press release on CA.gov, California‘s climate change initiative will include:

1) Evaluate and implement market-based mechanisms that spur innovation that will better enable the carbon market(s) to accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy.

2) Deepen understanding of the economics of climate change.

3) Collaborate on technology research.

4) Enhance linkages between scientific communities in the UK and California.

Speaking at the signing, Gov. Schwarzenegger said, “California will not wait for our federal government to take strong action on global warming.”

If nothing, this change in the attitude of Schwarzenegger is evident that individual state governments can differ from partisan politics and emphasize the value of our environment. Hope this sets precedence for other states to follow.

Source: http://gov.ca.gov/

Originally posted on http://www.headsetoptions.org/

 

Tags: News, Global Warming, Activism, Conserve, Carbon, weather, Environment, Economics, politics, greenhouse, Air Pollution, Energy, Blair, Schwarzenegger, California

Hope this past week’s temperature highs convinced the global warming skeptics.

Photo Courtesy: andysinger.com

Tags: Global Warming, Comic, Activism, Carbon, weather, greenhouse, Air Pollution

Price of oil is sky rocketing, the fed are raising interest rates, and people are feeling the pinch everywhere, not just at the gas stations, making it even harder to fight the looming recession.

One good thing out of all this might be that people will use less gasoline, and that would render our environment cleaner.

So bring it on.

Photo courtesy: CNN.

Tags: Non-profit, Oil, US, Cars, corporation, pollution, EPA, Environment, Sustainability, GETM, D.C. Watch