It’s been a while since the United States got this kind of reaction at the United Nations climate talks.
Once booed at international climate talks, the United States won sustained applause Sunday when President Barack Obama’s envoy pledged to “make up for lost time” in reaching a global agreement on climate change.
“It sent chills up my spine seeing the U.S. applauded,” Keya Chatterjee of the Worldwide Fund for Nature said after Stern’s speech.
Beijing welcomed U.S. promises of more action to slow global warming on Monday and said China would also do its share while ensuring that its people were not “left in the dark” without electricity.
“We welcome this positive change in attitude and approach by President (Barack) Obama and his team,” China’s climate ambassador Yu Qingtai said on the sidelines of 175-nation U.N. climate talks from March 29-April 8 in Bonn.
And Yu said China would do its part in a new pact, stopping short of absolute cuts in emissions, to give room for growth to raise living standards. “We all have our due contribution. We definitely will make that contribution,” he said.
That’s all positive sounding, the proof of how far each country is willing to go will come in the details. But if the U.S. and China make commitments, that goes a long way towards setting a global standard. That’s in part because the challenges they face are a little different.
The Obama Administration is talking about reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. That’s a lot more than Bush proposed but substantially less than the U.N. targets of emissions 20 percent below 1990 levels by the same date.
Meanwhile, China is building a new coal-fired power plant every week. That’s no way to reduce emissions, but China’s current per capita greenhouse gas emission rate is one-fourth that of the U.S. China’s challenge is to keep that per capita rate low while still expanding their economy, in the U.S. the challenge is to convert an existing energy structure to one that is more efficient and less polluting.
So the task is finding an international agreement that works at both those extremes, a fairly daunting task. But if the U.S. and China can find agreement, it should form a framework that the rest of the world can fit right into.
If you could pick a resource that people will be fighting over in the near future, what would it be? Oil seems like a safe bet, but alternatives could still take the edge off the need to acquire oil.
An even better bet might be water. Shifting climate patterns could lead to major droughts in several parts of the world, and there is no substitute for water. It could very well be that in coming generations freshwater, always a precious commodity, will become even more so.
With that in mind, it’s interesting that today’s news features several stories involving the management of, use of, or need for more water.
besides the feats of great athletes like Michael Phelps, one of the lingering memories of last Summer’s Olympic games was the efforts by China and the city of Beijing to lessen the oppressive air pollution that too often plagues that fine city. The imposition of driving restrictions and the shutting down of some of the worst polluting factories actually helped, and saved the games from the potential embarrassment of the world watching athletes who were unable to breathe enough to pursue their sport.
Many people at the time wondered if Beijing, having experienced the pleasure of breathing cleaner air, would do something to try and turn its temporary solution into a more permanent one. Not many people, though, would have guessed at what they’ve come up with.
Beijing is so desperate to get high-polluting cars off the roads, the city has devised a scheme that will pay citizens as much as $3600 to give up heavily polluting vehicles — and even give drivers more money to purchase cleaner cars.
The scheme by the environmental protection bureau is only one part of a massive plan to get Beijing’s more than 350,000 high-polluting vehicles out of the city during 2009. China’s capital has already banned cars from the roads on one of five weekdays based on their license plate number as part of a six-month trial that follows broader anti-traffic restrictions during the 2008 Olympic Games.
The initiative would take about 10 percent of the city’s 3.5-million registered cars off the roads — an amount that is estimated to account for 50 percent of the city’s notorious vehicle pollution.
To the average commuter, a ten percent reduction in traffic in any of the world’s major cities would undoubtedly be a welcome change. Think of the time saved by the lessening of traffic jams alone.
Paying people to not drive, however, is probably a solution that will remain unique to China. It’s hard to imagine any American city doing anything like this. With the economy leaving most local governments strapped for cash and Americans traditional love of the automobile, there probably isn’t enough cash out there to get that many Americans out of there cars. And as a political proposal, the idea would undoubtedly stir up a lot of opposition.
Still, cities everywhere are faced with the problem of too much traffic and the air pollution that goes with it. Solutions to the problem generally center around subsidies for mass transit, one thing the Chinese solution does is to at least raise the possibility of a more direct approach.
President-elect Obama’s getting pretty good marks around here for including actual scientists like Steven Chu and Jane Lubchenco in his cabinet and other high-level picks. This report suggests that it’s also getting some notice in the rest of the world.
Warmly welcoming the move, Britain’s leading climate change scientist Robert Watson said Sunday that the two Americans (Lubchenco and John Holdren, Obama’s Science Advisor), will help set an example to the rest of the world by creating a low-carbon economy in the US.
He told Channel Four television that once such an example has been set, it would be much easier to ask India, China and Brazil to join in the global fight against climate change.
The three developing countries have so far been reluctant to join in the fight, saying the US and other rich nations must do much more first, citing the ‘polluter pays principle’.
It would be nice to have something the U.S. does be “warmly welcomed” for a change. And if it works to change the positions of countries like India and China too, so much the better. The world could use a little optimism right now.
China’s dirty and dangerous coal mining industry cost the country a hidden $250 billion last year in lost and damaged lives, wasted energy and environmental devastation, according to a survey launched on Monday.
Pollution affected water, land and air around mines, thousands died and many more were hurt in mining accidents, and acid rain-causing sulphur dioxide and mercury were among dangerous emissions when coal is burned in factories and power plants.
None of this is reflected in low coal and power prices, according to “The True Cost of Coal,” researched over three years by Chinese economists and environmentalists.
“Behind China’s large production and consumption of coal … lie expensive and worrying environmental and social costs,” their report warns.
Business leaders and politicians, especially in the U.S., like to talk about free and unregulated marketplaces as the best way for distributing costs and benefits. But as long as their cost calculations leave out the kinds of calculations the Chinese researchers made with regards to coal. that “free” market is actually hugely subsidized by having hidden costs spread out into the population, all to the profit of the business involved.
That may be a traditional way of doing business, but it’s past time we quit thinking of it as a free market, not when so much of the cost of doing business is being payed by someone other than the business.
Here’s a poignant story about the efforts to get two Yangtze turtles, one of them the last female of their kind, to reproduce.
She’s around 80 years old. He’s 100. Breathless scientists watched as the world’s most endangered turtles successfully mated.
But the attempt to breed the species’ last known female with the last known male in China has failed because the eggs didn’t hatch, disappointed conservationists said Saturday.
The elderly pair can try again next year, part of a delicate attempt to keep the species alive.
The only other two Yangtze turtles known to be alive are both males and live in Vietnam. In China, at least, it appears the turtles are becoming a symbol for China’s problems with endangered species in general.
A successful batch of baby turtles would be a welcome environmental win for China. The country’s efforts to save its pandas are famous, but scientists have said about 40 percent of China’s mammal species are endangered. Pollution and hunting almost erased the Yangtze turtles.
Let’s face it. When a species gets down to such a few numbers, the odds against its survival are overwhelming. It can be done, the American bison was once down to one wild herd comprised of a couple dozen animals. The turtles will get another chance to reproduce next mating season, in the meantime they’re being handled with loving care and fed as well as turtles can be in order to keep them as healthy as possible.
if only that kind of care and attention had come their way when there were still enough of them alive to make a difference.
In their haste to industrialize and grow their economy, China has also developed one of the world’s biggest pollution problems. Only drastic measures like shutting down factories and prohibiting cars in Beijing kept the Summer Olympics from being played in atmosphere of smog and soot.
There’s reason to think attitudes are changing there, though. Some of the restrictions that helped clean up the air during the Olympics are still in place, and now comes more news that Chaina is working to protect their endangered river dolphins. And it’s their reason for doing so that gives hope for the future.
“Dolphins are the indicator species of river health,†said Li Lifeng, Freshwater Programme Director, WWF International.
“If they are gone, the river will not be able to support human development. The Yangtze Dolphin Network is a great step towards protecting the river for both species and people.â€
That’s right, protecting dolphins and keeping the rivers clean is good for both dolphins and people, and, in the mind of at least one Chinese official, also necessary for development.
Now, if we could only get the EPA to start thinking the same way. But it’s an article of Republican faith that environmental regulation is bad for business, evidence to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Summer Olympics haven’t even started yet, and already I miss them. I don’t miss the competition or the enjoyment of seeing the world’s best athletes doing what they do best, that’s all still there. What I miss is the sense that the games are connected to something bigger, that there are issues involved that go beyond the staging of athletic contests.
The Olympics I grew up with was always sharpened by politics. Many people may have considered it a distraction or complication, but for my mind political issues often served to bring added drama to the games. The U.S versus Soviet Union hockey game in 1980 was made even bigger because of the two country’s political rivalry. Through the years individual athletes have also used the games to make political statements, sometimes to the praise of others, sometimes to scorn. There’s been tragedy, also, as anyone who watched the Munich games remembers all too well.
But this year, there will be none of that. The host country is eager to use the games to present their best face to the world, and it’s evident that word has gone out to the athletes that everyone should support that goal. How else to interpret Kobe Bryant and LeBron James’ statement that they would offer no criticisms of Chines human rights policies, even though each has spoken up in the past? And today’s apology from the U.S. Cycling team for appearing with face masks on? If that actually wasn’t an attempt to make any kind of environmental or political statement, it should have been. That’s a statement worth making.
But not, it seems to today’s athletes, who are all too willing to keep their opinions within the lines set for them. In 1968, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in protest against the policies of their own country, a moment that stirs controversy to this day. with athletes like Kober Bryant, LeBron James, and others so willing to censor themselves, its unlikely this year’s Olympics will offer any drama to match that one.
You’ll recall that some of the greatest devastation from the earthquake in China in May was to an area where most of the world’s remaining pandas live. It sounds, though, that the pandas are making it through the loss of habitat.
China’s devastating earthquake in May dealt a major blow to panda conservation but a leading expert said on Tuesday their numbers were still increasing.
Reviewing the latest findings on their remote home in a wild corner of China, Wei said: “There are many more pandas in the wild than we thought. I am an optimist about the future of the panda.”
He said research showed pandas in the wild had a relatively high reproduction rate, changing the long-held view that it was a major problem for the endangered species
Fair or not, pandas are one of the animals that capture people’s imaginations, and a threat to their survival is always going to garner lots of attention. It’s good to hear they’re surviving after the earthquake.
The Summer Olympics are coming soon, and there’s a real possibility that the big story won’t be who wins the most medals or who sets a new world record but instead whether or not the athletes will be able to breathe the air they’re competing in.
Olympic host city Beijing was shrouded in haze on Monday 11 days before the Games begin, raising anxieties about whether it can deliver the clean skies promised for the world’s top athletes.
The city’s chronic pollution, a sometimes acrid mix of construction dust, vehicle exhaust and factory and power plant fumes, has been one of the biggest worries for Games organizers.
Many athletes have delayed arriving in Beijing until the last minute to avoid bad air and the International Olympic Committee said it may reschedule endurance events to prevent health risks to athletes if pollution is bad.
Marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie has already pulled out of the marathon over fears of damaging his health.
China has been promising that the steps they’ve taken so far will result in clear skies and clean air for the games. If it doesn’t happen, it will be a huge embarrassment for the host country. For the rest of us, it will mean that the once every four years gathering of the world’s greatest athletes will be overshadowed by the fact that air pollution will prevent them from competing at their best, and for some athletes it will mean that they won’t be able to compete at all.
That wouldn’t be the end of the world, the Olympic games are mainly a source of entertainment and a privilege, not a right. But sports grabs people’s attention in a way that few other activities can, and if the Olympic games are diminished because of pollution, that just might spell out for people the fact that the damage we are doing to the environment has consequences that we can’t avoid, even when all we’re trying to do is have fun.
