The Route to Economic Recovery Lies in Climate Recovery

President Obama has invigorated the debate on climate action and clean energy both in the United States, and internationally.

This isn't just good news for our planet and energy security, but for our economic recovery and future prosperity as countries the world over fight the global recession.

In Britain and in the US, tough economic times led some people to say that we should row back on tackling climate change and delay any moves to a low carbon economy.

But now we know that the route to economic recovery lies in climate recovery.

As President Obama, Britain's Prime Minister Brown, and other world leaders have recognized, a green and sustainable economy is a vital component of the world's economic upturn.

The move to a low carbon economy is not just a way of preventing ecological disaster some years in the future, but it is also an opportunity for now.

Progressive business groups, including energy companies, recognize that business opportunities and jobs are to be found in green technology, manufacturing and energy supplies.

Our approach in the UK, and the approach we hope will succeed here in the US, in China, India and in all the world's major economies, is simple: we will turn the challenges of energy security and climate security into opportunities for businesses to become leaders in clean energy and low carbon technologies.

Here in the US, the opportunities for wind, wave and solar power to be harnessed in places from Texas, to Virginia, to the Northwest, could create millions of jobs, and billions of dollars of investment. To give businesses certainty, we need all the world's economies to agree that they will do their part to reduce emissions too.

And also take the issue of energy generated from coal. The future of coal poses the starkest dilemma we face: it is a polluting fuel, but is used across the world because it is low cost and it is flexible enough to meet fluctuations in demand for power.

To square this circle, last week I outlined to the British Parliament our plans for the biggest demonstration of carbon capture and storage technology in the world.

This includes:

• A major push on the technology: up to four new projects to demonstrate carbon capture and storage, each one ten times bigger than the largest currently running in the world, and together meaning we are doing more than any other country.
• The end of unabated coal: I proposed a new rule that no new coal power station will get consent without demonstrating carbon capture from day one, on about 25 per cent of its output. Applications that don't demonstrate carbon capture and storage will be turned down.
• And a clear commitment to low-carbon coal once it's proven: there will an independent judgement about when the technology is proven, and once it is, power stations will have to fit it not just on a part of the plant but on 100 per cent of their output.

A solution that can -- with the right strategic lead and investment from government -- once and for all settle this issue. I've already had discussions with Energy Secretary Chu as to how we can work together on CCS.

The issue of how we can radically accelerate the spread of cleaner technology -- for the benefit of the climate and for a permanent green recovery -- will be discussed at an international meeting taking place in Washington today.

The Major Economies Forum will bring together elected officials from every continent of the world to assess how we can break through the deadlock that has characterised climate talks.

Success at the Forum, and crucially at the international climate negotiations that will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark in December will help unlock these green opportunities and set the world on a clear path that protects our environment, and promotes a green recovery.

There are big issues we still need to resolve. Agreeing how money and technology should flow from one nation to another and how we put a value on rainforests, is a lot harder than agreeing that climate change needs action. Actually getting economies to move towards low carbon, with all the investment and new rules that will be needed, is a harder task still.

If governments and our businesses and citizens want it enough, a global deal to prevent climate change further damaging our environment, and our economies, is within reach. And one which once and for all will tie together our economic prosperity, energy security and the protection of our climate.

Comments

[salh]

Additional comment from SALH. If Ameriicans want to help; they can always plant a deciduous
tree or trees on their property and reduce the carbon dioxide around their property. If every one who owned property planted a tree instead of cutting one down, the air would be cleaner. Thus we would have less lung disease and breathing problems.

[hillplus]

*ROLLS EYES*

Yeah, that'll fix our economy.

[KillTheMessenger]

It will. Give it some time. Alternatively you can run out and buy yourself a Hummer for every day of the week.

;-)

[AntonioSosa]

Overtone, breakthrough technology will be killed before anyone can benefit from it if Obama and his accomplices succeed in infecting us with the AIDS of socialism/communism imposing their destructivel cap and trade scheme, which has been called "an atomic bomb on the U.S. economy."

More and more scientists and thinking people all over the world are realizing that man-made global warming is a hoax that threatens our future and the future of our children. More than 700 international scientists dissent over man-made global warming claims. They are now more than 13 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media-hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers. http://www.climatechangefraud.com/content/view/3562/218/

Additionally, 32,000 American scientists have signed onto a petition that states, "There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate…" http://www.petitionproject.org/index.html

"Progressive" (communist) politicians like Obama seem determined to force us to swallow the man-made global warming scam. We need to defend ourselves from the United Nations and these politicians, who threaten our future and the future of our children. Based on a lie, they have already wasted billions and plan to increase taxes and increase the cost of energy, which will limit development, destroy our economy and enslave us.

[mioffe]

Dear Antonio Sosa, science is not on republican the same as not on democrats side.
It is not only carbon dioxide.
It is wind, which send hot air to cloud level.
It is reflection, which send short wave back to space.
It is convection, when hot air from the land surfaces going up.
It is evaporation.
Let see what did mankind:
Level of carbon dioxide and others greenhouse gases were really increased and man made sulfur rain destroyed some forests.
Almost all around every country in the world we till land, grow and harvest for food many different from usual vegetation build roads and houses. All of these activities changed as reflection, as convection, as evaporation.
32,000 of scientists could be also wrong as Al Gore, who see only carbon dioxide as main player in Nature. Numbers of followers in science mean nothing, if they can’t see reality. They are politicizing science and will bring to us the same damage as Al Gore.

[SonofLiberty1]

It's not Carbon Dioxide?

Well let's see....

I know, are there objects called PLANETS that might tell us something?

What about Venus?

Approx the same size as Earth, a little closer to the Sun.

Has an atmosphere 40 x Denser than the Earth.

95% Carbon Dioxide...

Temps that hover around 900 degrees Farenheit...

Lead melts there..

Now tell me that Carbon Dioxide can't do this?

Let's sum up shall we?

Industrial Revolution of 150 years produces Air Pollution..some of it not bad, other parts worse. That means that we, as humans, apart from nature are "growing" the atmosphere thus making it DENSER.

And a DENSER atmospehre always results in a greater "Greenhouse Effect".

That's why the climate is changing.

Don't agree with me?

Then go talk to Venus...

[listen2every1]

Gee, was is not Global Warming a year or so ago - but now that we know the earth is NOT warming so we say Climate Change. PLEASE - This simply is simply the biggest and most expensive hoax ever!!!! And the leader of this hoax is none than Al Gore - who leaves the biggest 'carbon foootprint' behind'!!!!! This nothing more then a huge TAX !!!! And will bring the UNITED STATES down on her kneess. Wake up people - the earth does not need CLIMATE CONTROL!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!

[KillTheMessenger]

We know that earth is not warming? Well, some of us might believe so religiously, but that doesn't make it true. Next!

[Rhetticent]

Messenger, the global warming proponents demonstrate an adherence to their beliefs worse than a bible thumping religious fundamentalist. Religious people believe and admit their beliefs are ultimately based on faith rather than science. GW fanatics claim their beliefs are based on science, but shout down any science that tends to discount their belief. Hypocrisy at its finest.

[salh]

Mr. Al Gore is wrong. His carbon credits are bunk!!! Several years ago he would have been laughed out of office. Obama 's energy policy is also bunk. Windmills and solar panels everywhere, what an eyesore and a nuisance. What ever happened to building nuclear power
plants, drilling for more oil in ANW and off the coasts? Private industry for years gave up on innovation because of bickering and lack of direction by the government. We need to stop talking and begin action, and not windmills. Power from windmills is sporadic, an eyesore, and a danger to birds. Let the car industry do what is right and best for the public. All the interference from government has brought us to the breaking point.

[mioffe]

Idea of clean energy is misleading public opinion. Atmosphere mainly is mixture of nitrogen, oxigen, greenhouse gases (including water vapor) and small droplets of water-fog, clouds and many others droplets not so big to see them, but which influense on visibility in atmosphere. Droplets of water in the air actualy cool the air, by evaporation from the surface of the land to top level of atmosphere. Water vapor from that droplets of water as lightest gas go up to clouds level, where they release energy to space and create new droplets of water.
Every droplet of rain going to the land partialy evaporated and this process aditionaly cooling the air. We have pendulum of cooling by this process.
Wind energy is not clean, because taking part of wind energy to make electricity reduce evaporation of droplets of water in atmosphere and cooling of air. Productions of batteries needed for wind and solar energy also not so clean, even if we will forget price for wind and solar energy.
Growing of trees will not only increase evaporation of water and cooling the atmosphere, but also will produce cheapest source of energy-wood energy for electricity production in small power plants where we can use almost 100% of energy- electricity and heat.
This direction can make us independent from foreign sources of energy during 5 years, and create 100% of employment during one year.
Everybody, who can educate our Government, please do that ASAP.

[olmossy]

Would burning wood for power be cleaner than coal.? Certainly not as clean as nuc. (not counting the toxic waste LOL) Could the waste from wood combustion be captured and used Non-polluting ? But trees are renewable.
If you are talking about growing trees like we see now in the pulp industries where you see acres of thickly planted trees that look like 30 ft tall grass. They probably do a good job of oxygen exchange, and they hold the soil lessening erosion. They are NOT a home for wildlife . Nothing lives there.
Shouldn't we also be lessening our demand for energy? Use LESS electricity, LESS gasoline.
Build things that will last a lifetime instead of 6mo then to the dump.
I put a switch on my hot water heater, Turn in on when needed, cut our electricity use in half.
BUT none of these solutions are good news for a society whose economy is driven by demand and over consumption and waste are they?

[mioffe]

Efficiency of huge power plants right now in USA is around 20%. 80% of energy- heat energy we waste in vain, because electricity we can move on 1000 miles with efficiency 92%. Heat energy we can move economically cheaper way only on 20 miles. Small power plants can reduce our energy need at least 4 times. Trees will store carbon dioxide if that is our goal at least on hundred years. After 100 years most trees will start anyway decaying inside and produce carbon dioxide.
Only electricity production will restore forests in the world, the same as lumber production companies are growing forests right now power plants companies will do the same.
It will be the cheapest way to fight global warming, create 100% of employment and not only in USA, but in the world. It is the best way for really green energy and independence from foreign source of energy.

[mioffe]

Al Gore made huge mistakes. Carbon dioxide makes very small influence on global warming.
Properties of water more important than carbon dioxide.
We need to remember: to evaporate 1 kg of water we need 339 kcal, to heat I kg of water on 100º C we need only 100kcal. Rain is cooling air. It cooling, not only on cloud levels but also by partially evaporation of every drop of rain on it way from cloud to earth.
When we see clouds they have small droplets of water. These droplets all time works as dynamic pendulum of evaporation and condensation. It happens not only on cloud level. It happens from level of earth till top level of atmosphere. Water vapor always helps cool the air by trapping infrared radiation, by evaporation additional droplets of water on higher level and always moving up. Every person who are writing or trying to understands about global warming must completely understand these properties of water.

[mioffe]

In summer time because of lack of water evaporation from continents are less than from oceans. This is real reason why on continent temperature is higher in summer time. Convection moves hot air up.
Golf stream evaporates a lot of water. Water vapor also goes up. Convection and water vapor of Golf stream is reason why winds in summer time mostly from southwest to northeast.
These processes could bring a lot of heat to North Pole and be reason for melting ice in Arctic Circle even in global cooling condition.
Carbon dioxide plays small parts in these processes.
If our Government will follow mistakes of Al Gore we will loose as in our economy as in fighting for status quo in oceans level.
Correct understanding Physics of atmosphere could make 100% of employment in USA, save us from melting ice without stupid directions as wind power, solar cells and many others expensive and not efficient directions.

[mioffe]

Ed Miliband, U.K. Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the same as Steven Chu USA Secretary of energy are completely wrong and need to be stopped as soon as possible, they follow mistakes of Al Gore and will bring to Nature more damage than good things. Everybody who can do that stop them as soon as possible.

[coffeeusa]

30 years ago, during the Carter administration, I lost my job at Boeing. The trickle down effect ended up with an unemployment rate of 21% in Seattle. My husband lost his job at car dealerships and before long, 3 of the ones he worked in went belly up-it was so hard.
30 years ago Carter was a President who beleived that green energy would save us. Carter was the reason a coal plant was built to capture carbon. Hmmm-it still is the only one.
Last year in Washington state I contacted my Congressmen who is greatly involved in wind energy. We still, a year later, do not get more than a 2% credit on our power bill. This does not help us, yet.
I saw a symposium at the University of Washington-experts in the field of energy. These educators and scientists all said the green energy is here, we have not yet learned to store it,yet.
WE HAVE TO DRILL untill we learn to store and transfer green energy.
It will either be other countries who are much less concerned about the environment when it comes to drilling or going for coal for our needs.
We should be drilling for natural gas to put people to work and we could put people to work convertng government buildings to natural gas.

[mioffe]

Dear Daily Elitist, I am thank you for your comment. At the same time I do not believe in bad will of Al Gore and our Government. In my opinion they are honest people, who even do not trying to understand special property of water vapor as greenhouse gas. They see only water vapor as greenhouse gas, which trapped infrared radiation. If they look at this gas as lightest from almost all other gases in atmosphere they will understand huge mistakes. Molecular weight of water vapor is 18, nitrogen is 28, oxygen is 32, and carbon dioxide is 44. Water vapor as lightest gas has tendency to go up to cloud level and up together with photons of infrared radiation. This tendency brings photons of infrared radiation close to space, where they will escape earth. It is simple Physics, but if Al Gore misunderstand that all others start believe him without additional thought.
Nuclear power has a lot of limitation to take it seriously the same as geoengineering.

[DailyElitist]

To clarify, many of them are simply mis- or uninformed. Gore, on the other hand, is not. He knows exactly what he's doing, and what the results of his plans will be.

I've spent enough time around them to know what the elite thinks about the common people, and I'm well aware of their total contempt for them. To me, it's clear what Gore and his ilk are trying to do with this issue - just look at how he perjured himself before Congress by repeating the same falsehoods about nuclear power that he knows damn well are bunk. He's a true believer in the eugenics cult, just like his coal-mining father before him.

Thanks for bringing the facts though.

[listen2every1]

Lets see how efficient a hospital will run on wind mills!!! And when you have surgey there I hope the solar panels are up to it!!!!! Rain forrests how are they doing? INFRARED RADIATION - and what would that be???? You make no sense. Honest politicians - oh yeah they are out there? I see one on the t.v. every single friggen day telling me and you the truth!!!! It is all about them and their power and OUR money!!!!!!

[mioffe]

“Here in the US, the opportunities for wind, wave and solar power to be harnessed in places from Texas, to Virginia, to the Northwest, could create millions of jobs, and billions of dollars of investment. To give businesses certainty, we need all the world's economies to agree that they will do their part to reduce emissions too.”
Al Gore is good writer and he wrote what his friends - scientists told him. He is democrat, unfortunately his books and movie bring huge attention to his wrong understanding of global warming. Many of republicans’ start confront him and offer opposite but also wrong vision of global warming.
Science is not on republican the same as not on democrats side.
It is not only carbon dioxide.
It is wind, which send hot air to cloud level.
It is reflection, which send short wave back to space.
It is convection, when hot air from the land surfaces going up.
It is evaporation.
If we will use science, not what celebrities thinking about global warming, we could stop melting of ice in polar circles and create 100% of employment during one year.
Al Gore is wrong and our Government follows his mistakes. It is a problem!

[DailyElitist]

I agree completely. What the bedwetters are really after is the elimination of human industry and creativity, the culling of the human "herd" to eliminate the "undesirable" parts of the population, and the reimplementation of feudalism on a global scale.

They want to ignore all of the scientific and technological solutions to climate change (i.e., nuclear power and geoengineering) from the discussion, as their real agenda has nothing whatsoever to do with concern for the environment. What their agenda is really about is eugenics: the genocidal elimination of whole sections of the population.

[indy100]

The route to economic recovery and national security does indeed lie in green technology. As it is America, Japan, much of Europe, etc could all be brought to a standstill simply by stopping all shipments of oil from the major producers. Producers that have completely different cultures, values and interests than most of us; and who proclaim almost daily to hate us. Green technology can take us farther in the next hundred years than we came in the last 100; and that was pretty far.

And have no doubt, we are not talking about "saving the earth". We are talking about saving humanity, and all the other creatures that currently exist. The earth will remain long after humanity has polluted the last lake, killed the last beast, and chopped down the last remaining tree. When the last human is gone the earth will still be here, vastly changed, but here nonetheless..

[amadorjon]

The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man". -Thomas Robert Malthus...........

he was talking about this stuff in 1799 man, we just turned a blind eye to the truth, becuase with overconsumption came economic prosperity in the west!

[KillTheMessenger]

Malthus was talking about subsistence farming in 1799... he knew nothing about solar cells and China's One Child policy. Those who still insist that he was right keep ignoring over two hundred years of human development.

[amadorjon]

he was right.......the crux of his theory is that agricultural production grows slowly while human population grows exponentia­lly.......­..........­.

look at just the growth of population in the last 25 years, do you actually think the earth can sustain twice as many people without wars and famine.........

but keep breeding, I can see thats your modus operandi

[SonofLiberty1]

I suggest that you read up on something called "Fertility Replacement Rate".

[DailyElitist]

So let me get this straight... the fact that Malthus was predicting the imminent collapse of the population more than 200 years ago, combined with the fact that the population has increased geometrically since then, to you means that Malthus was right, rather than a kook promoting his anti-humanist eco-religion? Wow...

If you still don't see the absurdity of that claim, consider that the earth doesn't produce for us, we produce for ourselves; we possess the unique attribute of creativity, allowing us to advance beyond the subsistence-level existence to which animals are constrained; and finally, that the human population isn't even constrained to this planet anyways.

In short, there is no such thing as "overconsumption" of resources, what we have is underinvestment in development. Likewise, there's no such thing as "overpopulation" of the human species, there is only underdevelopment and underproduction.

[amadorjon]

cmon man, we have done irrepairable damage to the environment, as a result of overconsumption and overpopulation, and your going to get on here and defend it????

keep breeding, its done wonders for the planet already!!!

[Rhetticent]

Absolutely. Just go back and read "The Population Bomb", by Erlich. Written in the 60's, it forecast horrible ends for the earth if the population was not controlled. Unfortunately for Erlich, NONE of his predictions came true, in spite of the fact that the population continued to increase.

[amadorjon]

wanna stop climate change....­.......kee­p people from overbreeding......

isn't the real problem that we as humans didn't think Liebigs law of the minumum didn't apply to us, and ignored the preachings of Malthus???­??????????­???

[Reighben Labilles]

Eventually, fertility control would be one of the biggest issues facing developing and developed countries with out-of-control population growth. As you said, having a manageable population is also key to economic sustainability. We can really have no such thing if we just overrun the planet and exhaust all of its resources. But of course the biggest opposition to this would be conservatives who hate the idea of contraceptives.

[amadorjon]

well once we become pragmatic and realize population is, in fact, our biggest threat, we will hopefully abandon these silly religious dogmas and address that which ails us

the dalai lama addressed the subject in a recent interview and had some enlightening (no pun intended) observations, he said its more important to have happy humans than too many humans, and also to protect our environment through some realistic population control, big contrast to the pope who went to Africa and told some of the most aids ravaged people on the globe that condoms were bad...........

[SonofLiberty1]

And we've already achieved that....

[KillTheMessenger]

"Liebig's law of the minimum" applies to plants. So unless you are green, have some sort of leaves and your feet are stuck in the ground it indeed does not apply to you.

You can also apply it to starving children, if you like and if that image makes you happy.

What it does not apply to is human population growth which is limited by our intellectual understanding of how to live in a finite world.

[amadorjon]

we applyed it in college as a good rule for determining the carrying capacity of all species in a habitat....

i.e. the minimum number a habitat could carry of a species during lean times, should determine the carrying capacity of any given habitat

[mioffe]

In summer time because of lack of water evaporation from continents are less than from oceans. This is real reason why on continent temperature is higher in summer time. Convection moves hot air up.
Golf stream evaporates a lot of water. Water vapor also goes up. Convection and water vapor of Golf stream is reasons why winds in summer time mostly from southwest to northeast.
These processes could bring a lot of heat to North Pole and be reason for melting ice in Arctic Circle even in global cooling condition.
Please look at tail after jet. Sometimes you can see that tail is disappearing. The same we can see with fog, small clouds. It is energy of infrared radiation again and again from ground level to border of atmosphere produce water vapor from small droplet of water mixed with air. This process not only additionally cool the air but also bring water vapor on higher level, where latent heat released by condensation of water vapor will more easily escape to space. It is happen with every drop of rain, fog, and cloud many times before drops will be so big, that despite continuos evaporation came to the ground. It is dynamic process of cooling the air and earth by special properties of water.