Solar

Happy Solstice, Happy Summer, and Happy Birthday to the novelist whose latest I've just begun: Ian McEwan, Solar.

climate of untruth

Some people still don't believe there's a strong scientific consensus on the climate crisis. There is, rivaling our confidence in gravity. This is not "only a theory."

Yes, there are also dissenting voices to be found, somewhat misleadingly formatted here to imply much more division than the scientific community has in fact expressed. Al Gore's explanation of why there's so much public confusion about this, and how it amounts to nothing less than an assault on reason, is still compelling... and his 2006 TED Talk was sobering, persuasive,and funny. (What a great presidential candidate this guy would've been!)

Here are new Gore slides; here's Elizabeth Kolbert pointing out that many of us who are already persuaded have been less than honest with ourselves, talking more about taking action than acting; and here's what Bill McKibben's been up to:

"350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere." Here are some reputable sources reflecting the present state of unanimity on this issue:

• Hansen, James, et al. Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim? Submitted April 7, 2008. NASA climate scientist James Hansen's paper about the 350ppm target. Hansen also writes: "The press and television, despite an overwhelming scientific consensus concerning global warming, give equal time to fringe 'contrarians' supported by the fossil fuel industry. Special interest groups mount effective disinformation campaigns to sow doubt about the reality of global warming. The government appears to be strongly influenced by special interests, or otherwise confused and distracted, and it has failed to provide leadership. The public is understandably confused or uninterested."

• Hansen, James, et al. Target Atmospheric CO2: Supporting Material. Submitted April 7, 2008.

• The IPCC 4th Assessment Report – link to the latest report by the Nobel-prize winning United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, supported by the world's leading climatologists.

• Baer, Paul, Tom Athanasiou and Sivan Kartha. "The Right to Develop in a Climate Constrained World: The Greenhouse Development Rights Framework" - an important policy framework for how to mitigate climate change while ensuring an equitable path to development for the Global South.

• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - link to the official UNFCCC website with information about the UN climate policy process.

• NASA - scientific reports, interactive maps, resources for kids, and more

• RealClimate.org - a blog of climate science, written by climate scientists

• Climate Safety - a very useful new report about current climate science, policy, and solutions

1. Pew Center on Climate Change - helpful information about climate science and international policy

If all that doesn't persuade, maybe James Garvey's Ethics of Climate Change will. We read it in Environmental Ethics. The evidence it assembles, and the case it makes for more serious reforms than almost anyone is even talking about, is not easy to ignore... unless you choose to ignore it.

"Lifestyle changes aren't too much to ask"

NASHVILLE, 5.15.09 Both Presidents Bush notoriously refused to cooperate with the world, at Kyoto and in general, to address the climate crisis. Their rationale? The American way of life - our "lifestyle" - is non-negotiable. We'll consume and emit and befoul as much as we want, whenever and however we want, period. We'll take as much of the pie as we can slice.

And so it is refreshing, in the lead-up to Copenhagen and the drafting of a new global climate treat, to learn from this morning's Tennessean that participants at a "Climate Project Summit" here yesterday applauded Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for responding to a question about the American lifestyle this way:

Lifestyle changes aren't too much to ask, Pachauri said.

"Why not, if this way of life is imposing a huge burden on the rest of the world?" he said to applause.

Emissions from fossil fuels are rising faster than projected, former Vice President Al Gore told hundreds gathered Thursday night for The Climate Project's North American Summit in Nashville.

"Temperatures are rising more rapidly," he said. "The ice is melting more rapidly."

Still, he said at the kickoff event of the three-day gathering, hope looms large.

A bill in Congress, expected to come out of committee soon, would be effective in reducing emissions in this country, he said. "Exciting" new developments are taking place with solar cells, wind and wave power and electric cars. New commitments are being made to mass transit.

"This is our time," Gore said. "This is our opportunity."

Joining Gore was Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The panel and Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for building knowledge about climate change and bringing it to the attention of the world...

Lifestyle changes aren't too much to ask, Pachauri said.

"Why not, if this way of life is imposing a huge burden on the rest of the world?" he said to applause...

Getting the U.S. to commit to legislation before negotiations begin this December on a Copenhagen Treaty to slow climate change was considered key at the summit. It would take the place of the Kyoto Protocol, which both the U.S. and Australia refused to sign in years past...

In Environmental Ethics this past semester we read James Garvey's excellent Ethics of Climate Change, which led to a constructive and cordial email exchange with the author - who at my suggestion promises to read some John Dewey. Dewey, for my money, has the best general answer to those who would challenge the idea that we have some obligation to our successors on this planet. (Nigel Warburton raised this challenge in a "Philosophy Bites" interview.) More on this later.