Yvo de Boer: Climate change has strong economic ties

The executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change spoke recently about the economic importance of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The secretary said it is even more clear now that public and private money will need to blend in a creative way to achieve this goal.

 

Republicans block energy bill

Senate Republicans blocked a landmark energy bill today with a 53-42 vote. According to The Wall Street Journal, a vote on a new bill is expected as early as next week following negotiations this weekend.  

Republicans opposed measures that would repeal tax breaks for oil and gas companies and require utilities to generate as much as 15% of their power from renewable energy, such as solar and wind power. In general, many Republicans support a measure that would increase vehicle fuel-efficiency standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Congress hasn’t voted to increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards, known as CAFE standards, since the mid-1970s,” the Journal reported.

If you have an online Wall Street Journal account click here to read more.

 

Obama ties climate change to moral ethics

“We cannot afford to let another year go by without taking bold action on climate change because the politics are too hard and too risky,” (Presidential candidate Barack) Obama claimed. “I don’t believe climate change is just a convenient issue to bring up in a campaign. It is one of the greatest challenges” that not only America, but the world, faces. (Chicago Sun-Times)

Presidential candidate Barack Obama, D-Il, has taken the climate change debate to a new level by tying the controversial topic to an even more controversial one: “moral imperatives.”

A day after former vice president Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Price for his efforts to promote awareness of the dangers of climate change, Obama was quoted in Monday’s edition of the Chicago Sun-Times  touting his energy plan and urging the world’s largest carbon-emitting nations to form a global energy carbon forum.

According to Obama’s energy plan he would reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050

 

Planning Green

I wanted to do a post that listed all the presidential candidates with an energy plan, but I realized that GRIST.org already did the work for me. For more detailed information click the link, but here is a list of all the candidates with fairly solid shades of green.

DEMOCRATS

• Hillary Clinton
• Joe Biden
• Chris Dodd
• John Edwards
• Mike Gravel
• Dennis Kucinich
• Barack Obama
• Bill Richardson

REPUBLICANS

• Sam Brownback
• Mike Huckabee
• John McCain

 

Does Gore deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?

Former vice president and presidential candidate Al Gore, along with an United Nations science panel, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week for their work to raise awareness about global warming. Gore was only the second former U.S. vice president to receive such an honor, however, there seems to be a lot of debate as to whether he was the best recipient for the award.

An editorial in the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal legitimately pointed out many others from across the globe who appeared to have sacrificed much more on the path to becoming a Nobel contender. Still anyone would be amiss to not acknowledge that Gore’s efforts now will force many on Capitol Hill to rank global warming much higher on their political radar.

According to the WSJ article, the prize is unlikely to unravel any political barriers to addressing global warming concerns and Gore still maintains he does not plan to run again for president. At least not yet.