A Japan Times article published today echoes the sentiment of my blog post yesterday that the non binding nature of the COP15 agreement rendered it meaningless. It summarized an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report as saying the "safest way to prevent a climate catastrophe would be to take action quickly." We missed a chance to make relatively painless cuts in the decade following the Kyoto Protocol, so you can bet it will only get harder the longer we wait.
One group not mourning the COP15 failure is The Japan Business Federation, whose representative is quoted in The Asahi Shimbun as saying "We were able to avoid the worst possible result as they will have to start the negotiations all over again." The article goes on to quote business leaders pleased to have more time to lobby the Japanese government to lower its proposed 25% cut of emissions levels below 1990 numbers by 2020. Imagine what is happening in countries that proposed even less ambitious targets.
My one glimmer of hope today regarding big business and the fight to lower carbon emissions was the discovery of esource.com, which offers large corporations advice on how to measure their carbon footprints and take measures to reduce them. I don't know a lot about the company behind esource, but they seem to offer a way for corporations to take a responsible leadership role without waiting for government to pass laws codifying emission reduction targets.
I'll close today on a hopeful strategy for individuals that is as simple as it is economical. Plant a tree. You can read Michael Scott's (no, not The Office's Michael Scott) full argument on behalf of tree planting here. If you are interested in the idea, but are unsure about which tree to plant, might I humbly suggest the American chestnut. As an ON Nature article describes it, a hybridized blight-resistant strain of the tree is ready for a comeback in North America. The added advantage of this large hardwood is that it will absorb more carbon over its life cycle than other trees. Time to start scouting my small backyard for a place to plant.
What I don't understand are the people who don't believe in climate change. They are missing the point. What causes so-called climate change? It is the emissions from sources such as coal-fired power plants and automobiles. What is a leading cause if cancer and other lung diseases? Emissions from coal-fired power plants and automobiles. We should be eliminating these pollution sources for that reason alone.
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