Long Term Effects of Global Warming Will Be Far Worse than Gulf of Mexico Catastrophe
Although the BP oil spill seriously threatens those who live along the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. intransigence on climate change threatens the entire world; a fact that is causing rising anger around the world. Yet the U.S. Congress continues to resist action on climate change on the basis that it will harm some U.S. economic interests, while ignoring our duties, responsibilities, and obligations to others to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to the U.S. fair share of safe global releases. For this reason, while the BP oil spill can be rightfully be understood as a disaster, U.S. Congressional inaction on climate change must be understood as a huge moral failure leading to an even greater disaster.
Two Articles on Dangers of Tar Sands Expansion
Friends of the Earth reports the successful development of the controversial oil sands in Canada has prompted oil companies to invest in similar operations elswhere, including Russia, Venezuela, the Congo, and Madagascar.
But the dramatic impact of oil sands expansion should give the companies involved and their investors pause, cautions a new report commissioned by Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental groups, and authored by the financial risk management group RiskMetrics
Limits to Growth for Big Oil, Big Coal, Big Fish Farms and Our Big Economy Crucial
Our individual and collective human effort seems to have a momentum, a predictable trajectory that tracks a compulsive course from less to more and from little to bigger. In the progression from deep to deeper and from some to many, our technology increases in sophistication, our problems rise in complexity and our risks multiply in tandem. So far we have been able to race just ahead of catastrophe. But this basic strategy is an invitation to eventual calamity, as the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico attests, as our mining pollution proves and as our fish farm problems confirm.
In the great scheme of things – should anyone feel confused about all that’s happening these days – we are presently engaged in the search for a fundamental sense of proportion and balance. This arduous process begins with global awareness. But it’s really about our inner growth and maturation, about our discovery of limits.
Moratorium on Offshore Drilling Across Top of North America Critically Important
It Could Happen Here: Canada should demand a moratorium on Arctic oil drilling until we’re certain it will be done safely – Article by Professor Michael Byers on the danger of drilling for oil in the fragile Arctic and how Canadian waters would be affected.
Imagine an Oil Rig Blowout in the Arctic. Oil Drilling There Must Be Prevented.
Two items:
Press Release from the World Wildlife Federation: All Drilling Must Be Halted in Arctic Pending Full Investigation of Gulf of Mexico Blowout; Despite calls for drilling “time-out,” Shell still set to begin exploratory drilling in Arctic on July 1 -
PARIS, May 5, 2010 (IPS) – The disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has given increased urgency to the fifth Global Oceans Conference taking place here at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Great News for Canadians Concerned for Global Warming
OTTAWA—Members of the Climate Action Network-Réseau Action Climat Canada are very pleased to celebrate historic progress in Canadian climate change policy today with the passing of the third reading vote on the Climate Change Accountability Act (Bill C-311).
“All three opposition parties must be congratulated for their support for the Climate Change Accountability Act,” said Dale Marshall of the David Suzuki Foundation. “This support reminds us that the majority of Members of Parliament, along with the majority of Canadians and provinces want stronger action on climate change. “
The Climate Change Accountability Act requires that the Canadian federal government implement regulations and policies to attain a long-term target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below the 1990 level by 2050.
Dr. James Hansen’s Proposal: The People’s Climate Stewardship Act
The People’s Climate Stewardship Act proposed by Dr. James Hansen calls for a “simple, honest” carbon fee, collected from fossil-fuel companies upon the first sale at the mine, wellhead or port of entry.
The money collected via this fee would be distributed to the public as a monthly “dividend” or “green check.” Distributing all of the revenue equitably to households will ensure that families can afford the energy they need during the transition to a clean energy future, and it should help win public support for a rising carbon fee.
Canadian Climate Scientist Andrew Weaver Sues National Post
Dr. Andrew Weaver, one of the most respected climate scientists in Canada and one of the best climate modelers inthe world, has launched a libel suit against the National Post newspaper and its publisher, editors and three writers: Terence Corcoran, Peter Foster and Kevin Libin.
In the words of a news release broadcast today, the suit is for “a series of unjustified libels based on grossly irresponsible falsehoods that have gone viral on the Internet.”
“Cap and Trade” Would Make Getting to Zero Emissions of Carbon Dioxide Impossible
Jean Matlack, one of our trusted 350.org organizers in Maine, recently wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Bangor Daily News which was published on April 13. Her letter, titled “Cap and Dividend might work”, stresses the importance of passing effective climate legislation in the U.S. as soon as possible, and goes on to explain why the cap-and-dividend approach, proposed by Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, could fit the bill (no pun intended). Please take a moment to read her letter, posted below, and consider writing a Letter to the Editor of your own local newspaper. We can’t afford to stay silent when it comes to solving the climate crisis, so now is the perfect time to get your ideas and opinions published.
