In this, the first week of November 2009 — a brief eye blink away from COP15, a.k.a., UN Climate Change Conference 2009, or as this blog now is calling it, No Hope In Hogging — a question for students of his story: How many currently in the Senate were Senators in 1992?
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Why 1992? Back then there was agreement with the boyz in Rio that something should be done about climate change. Since little to nothing has been done by federal policy makers during the past 9 sessions of Congress (102 – 111) about such a commitment to life on the Planet as we know it, a follow-up question could be: Is Professor Romm entirely rational if he expects that now they will do something substantive?
Oh, sure, back then we had yet to see as well the beginnings of serious damage to our common natural environment from the increase of global greenhouse gas emissions, whereas now there is good evidence that it is past time for resolute action and a very short window in which we could make any difference.
So, back then, establishing a pattern of delay and denial may have seemed less heinous since it was something that scientists said would happen someday based upon indications. With less evidence it was, perhaps, easier then, to turn away from the indications and focus on other priorities.
Even though not nearly enough to save future generations from unendurable catastrophe, committee action is about Senator Kerry expects that will be as far as the Senate can go before the two-week Copenhagen negotiations begin on Dec. 7. “We’re going to try to do as much as we can.” He, of course, was referring to efforts during the current session of Congress, rather than the previous 8 sessions.
Now you have a recent forecast from the UN Environment Program that we could see a rise in temperature as high as 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit by the century’s end. And, not only do we have alarmist authors giving us scenarios about what could happen, you can go to a National Geographic website (National Geographic, for gosh sakes) and see visual representations of what such an increase in temperature could mean.
With an increasingly dire forecast, one might rationally think that something would be done. Well, something is… BAUAAAE (Business As Usual And Above All Else), which prompted a businessperson, speaking to a group of concern business people, to observe that we are cheating our children out of their future, “and we’re doing it with our eyes wide open. And that’s exactly how history will judge us.” In other words, lawmakers, you may want to get those staffers working on a good defense against possible charges of crimes against humanity and how, even those there was knowledge and forethought, there were extenuating circumstances to their reckless regard for the public welfare.
Hey, ‘Merika, is it true that addicts will commit crimes to support their addiction without regard for whom those crimes might harm?
Thus, as we wend our way into this holiday season, perhaps it would be good to bear in mind a certain, seasonal story, e.g.,
“Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point,” said Scrooge, “answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?”
Still the Ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood.
“Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge. “But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me.”
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17 years, eh? Perhaps, we should avoid telling those delegates to the Barcelona talks, who, reported HuffPo, “were showing frustration that after two years of talks, the U.S. has been unable to make firm commitments because it is waiting for Congress to enact legislation.”
Yes, I admit it. I did see this advertisement before the post.
Help turn Copenhagen into Hopenhagen
Speaking of a brief blink of those Spanish eyes, the U.N.’s top climate official said Monday that “developing countries don’t trust wealthy nations’ promises that they will help them meet the challenges of climate change.” Yvo de Boer added that any new global heating deal must have legal force.
So much for Barcelona, the last meeting before the 15th Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen on December 7.
Reuters provides a time line — “How the world found out about global warming,” which indicates that warnings about human caused greenhouse gases occurred earlier than 1992:
1896 – Sweden’s Svante Arrhenius becomes the first to quantify carbon dioxide’s role in keeping the planet warm. He later concluded that burning of coal could cause a “noticeable increase” in carbon levels over centuries.
1957-58 – U.S. scientist Charles Keeling sets up stations to measure carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere at the South Pole and at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. The measurements have shown a steady rise.
1965 – U.S. President Lyndon Johnson tells Congress: “This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through…a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.”
1988 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher tells the United Nations: “The problem of global climate change is one that affects us all and action will only be effective if it is taken at the international level. It is no good squabbling over who is responsible or who should pay.”
1988 – The United Nations sets up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to assess the scientific evidence.
1992 – World leaders agree the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which sets a non-binding goal of stabilising greenhouse gas emissions by 2000 at 1990 levels — a target not met overall. 1995 – The IPCC concludes for a first time that humans are causing global warming, saying: “the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate”.
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