It almost seems like there is a firewall between the urgency of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the pace of the climate treaty negotiations underway in Bonn, Germany, this week.
The two are very much intertwined.
A fair, legally binding and ambitious international climate treaty will have the long-term effect of reducing the chances of a major oil spill disaster like what we are witnessing in the Gulf by significantly reducing the need to drill for oil in the first place. Such a treaty would see the world move quickly to alternative ways of producing power, like wind, solar and geothermal, that do not use oil and other dirty fuels like oil, coal and nuclear.
After all, when is the last time you heard of a major "wind spill" from an offshore wind farm? Even if there was such a thing the worst you would get is a heavier than usual ocean breeze.
In response to the Gulf disaster, US President Obama announced earlier this week that he would urge Congress to end taxpayer subsidies to oil companies (estimated at around $35 billion annually) and put in place measures that will rapidly increase investments -- both private and public -- in renewable energy. The president stated that this transition to clean energy must happen quickly because "the next generation will not be held hostage to energy sources from the last century."
Whether it is climate change or oil spills, the solution is the same, and the urgency of the situation must be conveyed to our political leaders. The major ingredient that has been missing in the climate negotiations for quite some time now is political will. Our political leaders have said that reducing the worldwide use of fossil fuels is a priority, but so far their urgent words have not been turned into urgent action.
If 20,000 barrels of crude oil pumping uncontrollably into the pristine waters of the Gulf of Mexico is not enough to convince political leaders that an international effort to transition to clean energy sources is absolutely necessary, then I don't know what is.
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Keith Thomson: How to Clean an Oil-Coated Pelican (VIDEO)
Earlier this week, a Gulf-oil-coated brown pelican was found in Mobile, Alabama, and taken to the nearby Theodore Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, where workers attempted to treat it.
And this communist/socialist label you give people who care about the environment is so strange. Please explain.
Here are some sites to help you with your studies:
http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/keyword/IPCC
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/02/ipcc_international_pack_of_cli.html
http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article1222
http://euro-med.dk/?p=13721
The list goes on and on, but that's enough for now. The socialists don't care about the environment, as the history of the USSR demonstrated big-time, but they do care about power, and about weakening the West. Climate alarmism is merely a current vehicle for them, nothing more, nothing less.
An argument can be made that too much effort has been spent dealing with a possibly non-existent problem, global warming, and too little effort has been spent preparing for other disasters, such as the eruption of volcanos in Iceland, or a major oil spill from offshore drilling.
The EPA has signficant responsibilities under the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Act of 1994, regarding oil spills. However, the EPA appears to have focused on attempting to demonize CO2, rather than organize the resources needed to respond to an oil spill such as the one now occurring.
It appears the EPA has had its eyes on the wrong problem, and the nation is worse off as a result.
As if the oil spill that murdered the gulf wasn't bad enough.
Let' have the same untrustworthy big business give us a nuke power disaster that will kill the gulf for 1000 years.
The official gov report doesn't even break solar wind and waste bio fuels out of hydro.
The fix is in.
Big fossil and nukes, will get the big money.
green solar wind and waste bio fuels, will get shafted again.
'Obama's foreign policy, from day one, was an excursion into humiliation and impotence. Now his cack-handed, cantankerous reaction to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill ("I've seen rage from him," reported White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, referring to the President's "clenched jaw" at meetings) has further discredited a president who was never more than a soundbite-emitting hologram. From The One to zero in just 16 months – the myth has ended.'
Source: http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Gerald-Warner-Hero-to-zero.6343599.jp
Some politicians think the oil in the gulf is like a drop in the bucket and is naturally occurring and one has likened it to chocolate milk. So, I suggest a field trip for all of Congress. They should all take a swim in the oily parts of the Gulf and then spend a couple of days helping to clean up any animals and marine life lucky enough to be rescued while being coated in oil.
It's a stupid argument and politicians should be called out on it every time.
Did I really just say that? Ouch. Great piece, KG.