Weather, Water, Energy 2-2-07

"We have this nailed." From one of the top US climate scientists on climate change in the IPCC report out today. Only mendacity by the Chinese apparently kept it from being even stronger. The time to dispute is over. It's time to act. And even doing so, we will find our world changed. As another US expert stated, "This is just not something you can stop. We're just going to have to live with it," co-author Kevin Trenberth, director of climate analysis for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, said in an interview. "We're creating a different planet. If you were to come up back in 100 years time, we'll have a different climate." The Swiss and the Russians can testify. Just keep in mind that things are already moving faster than this report transmits. The guys who have to watch the bottom line and therefore can't afford the luxury of ignoring reality are getting it, as this article on responses of multinational corporations makes clear.

The Europeans, of course, have been on board for years now, and their reactions are strong, clear, and productive. Meanwhile, the US, of course, has bulls--t like this, the American Enterprise Institute bribing "academics" $10,000 for essays criticizing the IPCC report. Oh, sorry, not "bribing," just introducing "balance." NEWSFLASH: the “balance” here isn’t between people debating a point. It’s with NATURE, which doesn’t give a rat’s ass about our “objectivity” and “listening to the other side.” This stuff is coming down and could be worse than is predicted right now. Pretending our “debates” are reasonable is the ultimate in human hubris. There’s no “middle ground” to settle on; what happens to the planet doesn’t depend on where we decide to set our agreement point. When you’re headed for a cliff at increasing speed, the “middle ground” is several hundred feet down. Just listen to Uncle Sir Nicholas Stern, of the famous "Stern Report"--denial is "untenable" and "indefensible from an ethical point of view." But then, asserting sense and being ethical have never exactly been what the deniers have been about, has it?

Other items today. Pond scum = biofuel? Cool. . . . Want to know how utilities will be affected by the reaction to the IPCC report if all goes well? Here's a projection of life in MD. Key point: Power generation companies in Maryland will see their profits decline by about 12 percent, according to the researchers. The amount of electricity generated in Maryland will drop slightly, and the power imported into the state will rise from about 30 percent to about 34 percent, according to the report. Lot of room for Schumpeter's "creative destruction" and the blooming of a new economy, isn't there? . . . Here's a nice piece on how global warming has become the topic du jour in a conservative state like MT and why they, like the rest of us should be, are concerned. . . . But really, folks. How much confidence do you have in such enlightenment when the state is being sued by WY because it's screwing the latter state out of water? Ophuls, Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity, tragedy of the commons, "Law & Order" sound. Come on, Al. We need you.