WASHINGTON, D.C.―When President-elect Obama assumes office on Jan. 20, he will face a multitude of urgent problems, and climate change may turn out, in the long term, to be the most important one to get right, according to a Congressional briefing held Nov. 13 on Capitol Hill.
The incoming Administration and the 111th Congress will need to address climate change along side other priorities, such as energy insecurity, unemployment, and national security. These interrelationships need to become better understood, according to the briefing.
“You cannot consider climate change without addressing energy, and you cannot address energy without considering where you are getting it … and when you analyze where we are getting much of our oil, it is in the least stable regions of the world … and that involves our national security …,” said former Senator Gary Hart (CO).
Sen. Hart strongly recommended to the participants at the briefing a study undertaken a few years ago by the Center for Naval Affairs, which concluded that climate change is a national security issue.
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) joined with the Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP), to sponsor the Congressional briefing that overflowed with attendees.
William Becker, Executive Director of the PCAP, said the PCAP report provides the 44th President, Barack Obama, with a comprehensive plan to take bold action on climate change within 100 days. In preparation for the UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in Dec. 2009, world leaders are looking to the new U.S. President for an indication of the kind of leadership and actions he will take to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
Action in the Next 4 Years Critical
Indeed, the PCAP plan does boldly recommend ways to cope with climate change, the unsustainable energy policies, and the “old economy” (which is rapidly becoming “dysfunctional and obsolete”), while endeavoring to be above partisan politics.
It was stated at the meeting that “we are rapidly running out of time,” to change the priorities of the country and place the country’s economy and energy sources on a new sustainable path, while stopping the rise in the Earth’s temperature.
“If there is no action before 2012, that’s too late. What we do in the next two or three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.”
The most critical goal for mankind is keeping the Earth’s temperature from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels, or else life as we know it will cease, according to climate scientists, says the report. Already, the Earth has warmed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit and the average temperature is expected to rise 0.9 to 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit more due to greenhouse gases now in the atmosphere.
The industrialized nations must collectively cut their greenhouse gas emissions 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. This is a tall order when today, U.S. emissions are 40 percent above 1990 levels, says the report.
In a nutshell, we have a choice: continue the past reliance on carbon-rich fossil fuels and an ethic of taking without regard to long-term consequence from our natural resources; or begin reliance on energy that is carbon-free and from largely renewable resources and an ethic of being responsible stewards of the earth.
If we continue to hold on to the “old economy” based on fossil fuels, we face a future of international resource conflicts and “the catastrophic consequences of unmitigated global climate change,” says the PCAP plan. It says: “The approaching peak in global oil production combined with rapidly rising world demand is a recipe for economic instability and conflict.”
Change in Direction in Energy Policy
“Part of the money we spend every time we fill our gas tanks goes to countries that support terrorist organizations. In an economy fueled by renewable resources, no one could cut off our supply of sunlight or wind,” says the PCAP report.
The PCAP report says America has been moving in the wrong direction. The United States consumes five times as much electricity as the average of the rest of the world, and the amount is increasing. The wasted electricity in the United States could power the entire Japanese economy, said Becker.
The report continues, “We would not need to go to war to secure supplies [of oil].” Price shocks would be a thing of the past because sunlight and wind are ubiquitous.
The report states that domestic oil production is not the answer. The supply and price of petroleum is controlled by the global market, beyond the U.S. control. OPEC can render ineffective any increase in U.S. drilling simply by reducing production. Our dependence on oil cost the economy $1.7 trillion, including $1 trillion transferred to oil-exporting countries. Imports of petroleum accounts for one-third of America’s trade deficit.
The best course is not more drilling and oil consumption, but saving through energy efficiency, conservation, and alternative fuels. Energy efficiency is also the fastest and cheapest way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The key is action, not thinking, said Senator Hart. He was hopeful for results from the incoming President-elect Obama whom he met with over a year ago. “I think he does connect the dots and understands,” said the former senator. “President-elect Obama has been very receptive and has made a personal commitment to move quickly,” says PCAP news release.
The briefers are hoping that the PCAP plan will be useful in prompting discussion and creating legislation in the first 100 days of the new administration.
Carbon Lock-In
Coal produces 80 percent of the emissions from America’s electric power generation, says PCAP. The future of America’s coal industry depends on the development of clean coal technology, whereby the carbon is captured, removed, and buried (“sequestered”) deep underground, abbreviated as CCS. President-elect Obama frequently mentioned CCS during the campaign, and he favors aggressive R&D on CCS and 5 demonstration plants.
But the technology is not yet ready and “more than a decade away,” according to Becker, “assuming its problems can be solved,” and Becker questions whether it will be cost effective. The PCAP plan favors continuing the research but not waiting for it, and having the coal industry pick up more of the tab.
“… given the urgency of cutting carbon emissions, we must avoid building new conventional coal-fired power plants. Each new plan locks us in to a half century of more carbon emissions,” says the PCAP plan.
Lower Income Families Need Compensation for Climate Change Policies
Revenues from carbon pricing are expected to be in the neighborhood of $100 to $200 billion in the first year. PCAP recommended that one-third of these be set aside for Americans at the lower end of the income scale.
