I do feel more confident! Jubilant even!
The very fact that nearly 200 countries have signed on to the Paris Climate Agreement, pledging to take climate action — representing nearly the entire population of Earthlings — is, as President Obama said, “a turning point for the world.”
“What matters is that today we can be more confident that this planet is going to be in better shape for the next generation,” he said in a statement from the White House, Dec. 12. “Together, we’ve shown what’s possible when the world stands as one.”
“Today, the American people can be proud — because this historic agreement is a tribute to American leadership.
Over the past seven years, we’ve transformed the United States into the global leader in fighting climate change.
In 2009, we helped salvage a chaotic Copenhagen Summit and established the principle that all countries had a role to play in combating climate change. We then led by example, with historic investments in growing industries like wind and solar, creating a new and steady stream of middle-class jobs.
We’ve set the first-ever nationwide standards to limit the amount of carbon pollution power plants can dump into the air our children breathe. From Alaska to the Gulf Coast to the Great Plains, we’ve partnered with local leaders who are working to help their communities protect themselves from some of the most immediate impacts of a changing climate.”
And doing it all while breaking records for the longest streak of private sector job creation.
“We’ve driven our economic output to all-time highs while driving our carbon pollution down to its lowest level in nearly two decades,” as Obama said.
Speaking to detractors are both sides — climate activists like Bill McKibben who said the agreement does not go far enough, and climate deniers who would reject any action at all — Obama said, “Now, no agreement is perfect, including this one. Negotiations that involve nearly 200 nations are always challenging. Even if all the initial targets set in Paris are met, we’ll only be part of the way there when it comes to reducing carbon from the atmosphere. So we cannot be complacent because of today’s agreement. The problem is not solved because of this accord. But make no mistake, the Paris agreement establishes the enduring framework the world needs to solve the climate crisis. It creates the mechanism, the architecture, for us to continually tackle this problem in an effective way.
“This agreement is ambitious, with every nation setting and committing to their own specific targets, even as we take into account differences among nations. We’ll have a strong system of transparency, including periodic reviews and independent assessments, to help hold every country accountable for meeting its commitments. As technology advances, this agreement allows progress to pave the way for even more ambitious targets over time. And we have secured a broader commitment to support the most vulnerable countries as they pursue cleaner economic growth.
“In short, this agreement will mean less of the carbon pollution that threatens our planet and more of the jobs and economic growth driven by low-carbon investment. Full implementation of this agreement will help delay or avoid some of the worst consequences of climate change and will pave the way for even more progress, in successive stages, over the coming years.”
The agreement also sends a “powerful signal that the world is firmly committed to a low-carbon future. And that has the potential to unleash investment and innovation in clean energy at a scale we have never seen before. The targets we’ve set are bold. And by empowering businesses, scientists, engineers, workers, and the private sector — investors — to work together, this agreement represents the best chance we’ve had to save the one planet that we’ve got.
“So I believe this moment can be a turning point for the world. We’ve shown that the world has both the will and the ability to take on this challenge. It won’t be easy. Progress won’t always come quick. We cannot be complacent.
While our generation will see some of the benefits of building a clean energy economy — jobs created and money saved — we may not live to see the full realization of our achievement.
But that’s okay. What matters is that today we can be more confident that this planet is going to be in better shape for the next generation.
And that’s what I care about…..our work today prevented an alternate future that could have been grim; that our work, here and now, gave future generations cleaner air, and cleaner water, and a more sustainable planet. And what could be more important than that?
“Today, thanks to strong, principled, American leadership, that’s the world that we’ll leave to our children — a world that is safer and more secure, more prosperous, and more free. And that is our most important mission in our short time here on this Earth.”
Significantly, the United States, whose Republican rightwingers are the smallest, tiniest minority of 7 billion souls, opted for language — “should” rather than “shall” — in order to bypass the need for Senate ratification of an actual treaty. We’ve seen how treaties as benign as making America’s standards for disabled people have been rejected, and the GOP Majority made it clear they would do everything possible — even shutting down the government — to make sure the United States does not do its part to prevent climate catastrophe, which could include extinction of a good portion of the world’s species – like Noah and the flood.
It is notable that the United States represents a mere 5% of the world’s population but is responsible for 25 percent of the emissions that are causing extreme climate events.
China, the second largest emitter, has four times the US population but during the Paris talks, had to issue its first ever Red Alert because air quality was too dangerous due largely to emissions from coal-fired plants.
Without missing a beat, Republican Congressional leaders said they would block whatever action Obama promised, based on the oxymoronic idea that the President “made promises he can’t keep.”
But as Secretary of State John Kerry responded, 195 countries in the world have signed on to this historic agreement, bringing their own strategies and solutions to the table so they are more likely to follow through..
This was the genius of Obama’s strategy, going back to forging a historic joint announcement with China last year that “showed it was possible to bridge the old divides between developed and developing nations that had stymied global progress for so long,” the President said. “That accomplishment encouraged dozens and dozens of other nations to set their own ambitious climate targets. And that was the foundation for success in Paris. Because no nation, not even one as powerful as ours, can solve this challenge alone. And no country, no matter how small, can sit on the sidelines. All of us had to solve it together.”
More importantly, these targets are a floor, not a ceiling, and as policies become embraced and technology improves and the economics shift in favor of renewables and conservation, it is likely that momentum will allow for greater, faster gains than have been pledged.
Indeed, it is not just the national governments who are on board. Obama also has managed to bring along many of the world’s most influential companies like Microsoft and Google (not Koch Industries, of course), and billionaires like Bill Gates who are pledged to invest in climate action strategies including developing clean, renewable energy technologies that will shift our economy from its dependence on burning dirty fossil fuels (that’s what has the Koch brothers really worried).
The Republicans did their best to torpedo the Paris talks even before they began, attempting to negate Obama’s demonstrations of good faith with his Clean Power Plan by passing two bills effectively nullifying the plan. Since they would not survive a Presidential veto, the idea was essentially to show the rest of the world that whatever they agreed to in Paris would not pass their obstruction in the world’s biggest emitter.
Climate change, global warming is the most dire threat to national security, posing threats to public health, safety and the economy.
And yet, each of the Republicans who would seek to become the “Leader of the Free World” completely ignore, dismiss, deny the crisis — extinction of half the species on the planet, acidification of the oceans that are the starting point for the food chain, noxious air, droughts, floods, famines, sea level rise that will swamp whole nations, let alone Florida which could unleash some 200 million climate refugees, don’t sway them.
How absurd that Ted Cruz says that there is absolutely no crisis because when you average out 18 years, based on a misunderstanding of satellite data, the earth’s temperature has not risen. As a climate scientist pointed out, the 18-year timeline was used because it was a year of record El Nino that immediately skews the data, which, as he noted, was inaccurately represented in any case.
Cruz, echoing a statement by Rick Santorem, also said, “Climate change is being driven by politicians who want more control over our lives.” Donald Trump twittered “Any and all weather events are used by Global Warming Hoaxters to justify higher tax rates to save our planet.”
Republican hopeful Chris Christie was even more absurd: he says that there is no climate crisis brewing (actually, it’s already here), because he simply doesn’t believe it. This is a guy who wants to be President?
More sour grapes and a refusal to steal away this gigantic legacy achievement of Obama as a global leader, they are really, really upset that Obama isn’t singularly focused on defeating ISIS, even though you can never completely eradicate terror, and certainly not in an immediate timeframe. And what does it say that they would be a President who can only grapple with a single challenge at a time? Pathetic.
There is no doubt that if one of them occupies the White House, they will, as Reagan did, rip solar panels off the roofs, shut down the EPA (as they have promised to do), repeal every climate change action that Obama has made, and hand the government over to the Kochs and Exxon-Mobil. Failed Presidential candidate Steve Forbes, whose family rules the Forbes Magazine empire and who is now advising GOP 2016 candidates, tipped his hand when he said the US economy is “imploding” because of “falling oil prices.”.
But now, it is key that the vast majority of us who want climate action push for Congress to reauthorize tax incentives for renewable energy industries. The solar industry is the fastest growing in the U.S., already employing more people than the coal industry.
You would think that Republicans, whose singular economic prescription consists of cutting taxes, would be in favor of tax credits to spur a fledgling industry. But this is clean, renewable energy that threatens the profits and the power of the Old Fossils.
And for those GOPers who suggest that the federal government “shouldn’t pick winners and losers” — they refuse to rescind the billions of dollars in subsidies that still flow to fossil fuels (or for that matter, the legislative advantages that are given, in terms of licensing and liability), despite the fact these are some of the most profitable companies in the history of humankind.
Here’s a compromise: they should condition those subsidies to Exxon-Mobil, et al. on only what they spend to develop and implement clean, renewable fuels (and not natural gas, which is their big new cash cow).
Contact Congress and urge support for:
* Extending the renewable energy production tax credit for wind and other renewable energy technologies, which expired in 2014.
* Extending the tax incentives for residential and commercial energy-efficient construction, which also expired in 2014.
* Extending the solar investment tax credit for residential and commercial properties, which will be greatly reduced in 2017.
Paris Climate Agreement: The Facts
So what’s in the Paris Agreement? The White House produced a Fact Sheet, breaking it down (https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/12/12/us-leadership-and-historic-paris-agreement-combat-climate-change). Here are highlights:
The Paris Agreement sets forward an ambitious vision for tackling climate change globally and “sends a strong signal to the private sector that the global economy is moving towards clean energy, and that through innovation and ingenuity, we can achieve our climate objectives while creating new jobs, raising standards of living and lifting millions out of poverty.”
· Strengthening long-term ambition: The Agreement sets a goal of keeping warming well below 2 degrees Celsius and for the first time agrees to pursue efforts to limit the increase in temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It also acknowledges that in order to meet that target, countries should aim to peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible.
· Establishing a universal approach for all countries: The Agreement moves beyond dividing the world into outdated categories of developed and developing countries and instead directs all parties to prepare, communicate and maintain successive and ambitious nationally determined climate targets.
· Locking in five year target cycles: Starting in 2020, all countries will communicate their climate targets every five years. Targets must be submitted 9-12 months before they are finalized.
· Ratcheting up ambition over time: This durable, long term framework will drive greater climate ambition as technologies improve and circumstances change.
· Rigorous assessment of global climate action: This process will begin in 2018 and occur every five years to help inform countries’ future targets and strategies.
· Sending a market signal on innovation and technology: The mitigation components of the Agreement, combined with a broad push on innovation and technology, will help significantly scale up energy investments over the coming years – investments that will accelerate cost reductions for renewable energy and other low-carbon solutions. This set of actions will create a mutually reinforcing cycle in which enhanced mitigation increases investment and enhanced investment allows additional mitigation by driving down costs.
Transparency and Accountability
The Paris Agreement establishes a robust transparency system to help make sure that all countries are living up to their commitments. This will send a market signal to the private sector and investors that countries are serious about meeting the targets they have set. These steps include:
· Putting in place an enhanced transparency system for all countries ensuring that all countries are on a level playing field with the US with flexibility for those developing countries with less capacity.
· Requiring countries to report on greenhouse gas inventories by source for the first time, giving unprecedented clarity to the public’s understanding of emissions and pollution in countries throughout the world.
· Requiring countries to report on mitigation progress for the first time.
· Establishing a technical review process with agreed upon standards
Promoting a Low-Carbon Future Through Investment
Tackling climate change will require shifting global investment flows towards clean energy, forest protection, and climate-resilient infrastructure. Developing countries, particularly the most vulnerable, will need support from the global community as they pursue clean and resilient growth. The Paris Agreement makes real progress on this front by:
· Providing a strong, long-term market signal that the world is locking in a low-carbon future: The submission of ambitious national targets in five-year cycles gives investors and technology innovators a clear signal that the world will demand clean power plants, energy efficient factories and buildings, and low-carbon transportation not just in the short-term but in the decades to come. This will make it far easier to draw in the largest pools of capital that need long-term certainty in order to invest in clean technologies.
· Giving confidence that existing financial commitments will be met: Many developing countries, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable, came to Paris seeking reassurance that a global climate deal is not just about the big emitters but also supports their transition to a low-carbon growth path. In this regard, progress is being made towards meeting the existing goal to mobilize $100 billion from a wide variety of sources, including public and private, by 2020. The Paris outcome provides further confidence that this goal will be met and that climate finance will continue to flow. For the first time, the Agreement recognizes the reality that countries like China are already joining the base of donor countries contributing to climate finance and encourages developing countries to contribute to climate finance, while reaffirming that the US and other developed economies should continue to take the lead.
These components of the Agreement build on steps the United States took in Paris to demonstrate its commitment to mobilizing finance from public and private sources for both mitigation and adaptation activities in developing countries. These steps include:
· Launching Mission Innovation: On the first day of the conference, President Obama joined other world leaders to launch Mission Innovation, a landmark commitment to accelerate public and private global clean energy innovation, and dramatically expand the new technologies that will define a clean, affordable, and reliable global power mix. Twenty countries representing around 80% of global clean energy research and development (R&D) funding base committed to double their R&D investments over five years. In addition, a coalition of 28 global investors led by Bill Gates committed to support early-stage breakthrough energy technologies in countries that have joined Mission Innovation.
· Doubling U.S. grant-based public finance for adaptation by 2020: Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the US will double its grant-based, public climate finance for adaptation by 2020. As of 2014, the US invested more than $400 million per year of grant-based resources for climate adaptation in developing countries. These investments provide vulnerable countries with support to reduce climate risks in key areas, including infrastructure, agriculture, health and water services.
Incentivizing Subnational, Private Sector and Citizen Action
Because the Agreement should serve as a floor for future ambitious climate action, complementary actions outside of the Agreement by sub-national governments, enterprising businesses, investors and entrepreneurs, and an enlightened global public are important complements to the Paris Agreement. As part of these global efforts, Americans have demonstrated their dedication to climate action through a wide variety of commitments.
· Compact of Mayors pledge signed by 117 US mayors establishes a common platform to capture the impact of cities’ collective actions through standardized measurement of emissions and climate risk, and consistent, public reporting of their efforts.
· Under-2 MOU: States including California, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and New York have signed onto the Under-2 MOU. The MOU commits signatories to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80-95% below 1990 levels, share technology and scientific research, expand zero-emission vehicles, improve air quality by reducing short-lived climate pollutants and assess projected impacts of climate change on communities.
· American Business Act on Climate Pledge: 154 companies have signed the White House’s American Business Act on Climate Pledge. These companies have operations in all 50 states, employ nearly 11 million people, represent more than $4.2 trillion in annual revenue and have a combined market capitalization of over $7 trillion. As part of this initiative, each company expressed support for an ambitious Paris Agreement and announced significant pledges to reduce their emissions, increase low-carbon investments, deploy more clean energy and take other actions to build more sustainable businesses and tackle climate change.
· American Campuses Act on Climate Pledge: 311 colleges and universities representing over 4 million students have demonstrated their commitment to climate action by joining the American Campuses Act on Climate Pledge.
