Passing Laws to Stop Global Warming

Sun, 03 May 2009 14:30:20 +0000

Though we might be distracted by the current economic downturn, most of us are familiar with the story of global warming. The earth is heating up with increasing speed; by the latest scientific estimates, even faster than was predicted two or three years ago. This is due, as most of us know, to increasing inputs of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, largely from transportation emissions (30%), utility emissions, particularly coal-fired energy generation (40%), burning of forests (20%), and other sources such as manufacturing, air travel, etc. (10%). The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is presently at 384 parts per million and rising at a rate of 2 parts per million each year. Average global temperatures are predicted to rise 3-5 degrees Fahrenheit in the present century. Many scientists, including James Hansen of NASA, one of the most highly regarded climate scientists in the world, predict that exceeding 400 on this scale will push us "past a point of no return," where feedback loops may continue to raise the amount of CO2 in the air (and temperatures) for over one hundred years, independent of what we do. According to Hansen, keeping CO2 at or below 350 parts per million is optimal for sustaining civilization in the form we have known it for the past 10,000 years. We passed that level twenty years ago.

To avert environmental disaster, humanity must reduce its output of CO2 promoting global warming. All of this has to be done quickly, despite rapidly increasing population and increasing upward mobility in developing countries such as China and India. How is this even possible? Obviously it looks pretty daunting.

The technologies to implement solutions to global warming presently exist. Some of them include:

* Clean sources of energy from sustainable resources

* Improved energy efficiency in transportation and buildings.

* An "Energy Internet": Smart Grids and Smart Boxes

The important fact is that all of these new technologies and approaches presently exist. The key operative word is "SCALE." At present these options are mostly used on a very small scale. How do we get them up to a large scale—even nationwide scale?

The Answer: Government Regulaitons and Incentives

Each of us can individually decide to drive a hybrid car, insulate our homes, recycle paper, glass and plastic, or buy Energy Star certified appliances. However to change peoples’ and industries’ habits on a broad scale, federal policy and regulatory changes are needed.

Only when the American government passes laws and regulations mandating:

* reduction of industrial and utility carbon emissions

* increased energy efficiency of cars, new buildings, and appliances

* increased reliance of utilities on clean energy such as wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass, with set goals and timeframes

will there begin to be a market for these things. Industries and utilities are unlikely to step forward to create alternative technologies until a true market exists. That is, until clean energy and energy efficiency become competitive with the old way of doing things with "dirty" energy sources based on fossil fuels.

When government regulations require innovation of new technologies, then it will happen on the scale needed. America will begin to put all of its ingenuity and capacity for rapid innovation behind the attainment of a nationwide system of clean, carbon-free energy.

For more information on the Global Shift that is needed to accomplish these changes, and how you can help, visit their website at GlobalShiftNow.com

1st Advice » Climate

Passing Laws to Stop Global Warming