Weather, Water, Energy 6-04-07

We always emphasize here that fighting global warming can be a new economic boom if properly seen and acted upon, but also that the insistence that “economic growth” will not be sacrificed is the surest way to sacrifice economic growth in what’s coming. So, when China comes out with this “plan” to fight warming with a commitment to keep doing what’s it’s been doing only with alternatives if/when they come available and no commitment to developing the new economic infrastructure to bring on the possible boom, you know that it’s pointless. Especially when it refuses to cooperate with a proposed cap of only a 2 degree Celsius increase on global temps (that’s 3.6 of our natural, all-American degrees). IOW, let the planet burn while we crazily think we can develop under these conditions and pretend the developed world should do it all when we’re becoming the world’s leading emitter. (And in case you’re thinking, “Where’s India in this tirade?,” well, here it is, self-serving as ever.) What immoral tools. At least the article nails our own pointless little leader:

US President George W Bush - whose country is the only industrialised nation apart from Australia not to ratify the protocol - has proposed uniting a group of big emitters who would set non-binding targets by the end of next year.

But some analysts say this has been interpreted as a way of undercutting other initiatives - for example by the G8 or United Nations.

I love “non-binding targets” by “the end of next year” (which coincides with the end of his presidency. . . maybe). More countries have been done in by venality than perfidy, but Bushnev has pulled them both together in a really toxic combo. Of course, big surprise, his home state is the leading emitter of all the states. And you think it will get better with Georgi gone? Here’s Fred Thompson comparing what’s happening here with a warming Mars and Jupiter and making fun of scientists who don’t believe it’s all just “solar.” . . .

Meanwhile, while all these “leaders” dither with “voluntary” (that is, who know what will happen?) plans to promote economic development, the folks responsible for that development, the business leaders, are begging the politicians to give them some clear structure of policy plans so they can start doing their own planning for, you know, that economic development. Here’s what they’re telling the G8 leaders:

"To finance the solutions and manage the risks we need a strong policy framework that tackles carbon emissions effectively while providing transparency and stability for investment decision-making" said the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change. . . .

Oh, and as the dithering crescends, we have Australia with its hottest autumn ever (which is our spring, but they’re upside down, literally), we’re warned the Himalayan glaciers could be gone in 50 years, Indonesia looks at rising sea levels the same way CA’s Delta Island folks do (that is, uh-oh), a UN report calls on nations to pay more attention to the effects of warming on animal species and their possible extinction, and another UN report lets us know that the loss of heat-reflecting ice during global warming may speed things up beyond what we’re prepared for. But, as that idiot NASA head said the other day, how arrogant of us to think that these things will be bad. (See his employee James Hansen's masterful takedown of the fool here.) . . .

Here is some truly positive news, though: GE Energy Financial Services has announced that it would double its renewable energy investments by 2010, and has become one of the first financial institutions to disclose the greenhouse gas emissions from its power plant equity investments. . . .

This news could be good or bad, I guess, depending. Turns out that rising sea levels affect the earth’s rotation, speeding it up, meaning that days will get shorter. Before you decide if it’s good or bad for you, note that the shortening will be .12 of a millisecond two centuries from now. But maybe you can still fit in that extra lesson of whatever you’ve been wanting to learn. . . .

But here’s unequivocally good news, via Grist. The Economist has an entire issue devoted to business waking up on the right side of the bed with global warming, complete with free links to all the articles. Go read.