No new climate deal in sight

Oh, so the US thinks there will be no new climate deal until 2020. Methinks that's a little late.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20111122-714059.html

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A week before international climate negotiations are scheduled to start, the U.S. has signaled it does not expect the world's economic powers to reach a legally binding agreement to cut greenhouse-gas emissions until 2020.

An ongoing stalemate between China, which has resisted agreeing to legally binding emissions cuts, and the U.S., which has said it only will agree to binding emission cuts if China does, is widely expected to continue at climate talks sponsored by the United Nations that are scheduled to start Monday in Durban, South Africa

 Nero fiddles while Rome burns. There is something seriously wrong with this scenario. By 2020 it will be too damned late! That's nine years away! Last year was the worst year ever for CO2 adding to the atmosphere. And we will get worse. How many heatwaves and droughts and needless deaths will there be in nine years? Nine years is a long time, even by geological standards.

We're screwed.

That's why they call me the Voice of Doom.

More bad news for Climate Change

There's more bad news coming on the climate front. Better get used to it.

Record-breaking temperatures, stronger winds and heavy precipitation in the form of rain and snow are becoming more frequent events in the 21st century due to climate change that evidence indicates is being caused by human activity, says a new assessment released Friday by governments from around the world.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Report+sounds+stark+climate+warning/5736485/story.html#ixzz1eCsrJ9yZ

 The problem for most of us is that "more frequent" has to do with probability and we humans are pretty poor at understanding probability. Not every heat wave, not every heavy precipitation event, not every drought is linked to climate change. They have always occurred and always will occur. So the nay sayers have plenty of fodder.

But the reality is that they will occur more often. And they will be more severe. Just ask Rick Perry, after the terrible drought that socked Texas last summer.

And there's more.

Energy-related carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2010 were the highest in history, according to the latest estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA) .

We haven't even begun to address the fact that carbon is continuing to be added to the atmosphere. I remember when commentators were saying the 90's were going to be the "turnaround decade." Twenty years later we haven't even begun.

Here's the way I see it. The US is still the leading global economy. Barak Obama is in deep trouble in terms of his re-election chances in a year. Will President Mitt Romney be much better? (You heard it here first!) I doubt it. As much as Obama is trying to move an agenda that makes sense against a backdrop of opposition. Romney will be trying to get his own people on board, which will be difficult, judging from the fact that there is so much opposition to the facts of climate change on the right.

So at least five more years will pass before we have another chance to address the US carbon issue. Perhaps by that time China's economy will eclipse the American economy. If the Chinese leaders perceive a threat from climate change, watch out! They will make changes in their economy faster than you can say "Gung hay fat choy!" That's one of the advantages of a fascist government.

Meanwhile in our democracies, we have to convince everyone to get on board. The truth that no politician will get elected on is that we need to consume less. We need to voluntarily become poorer in order to survive. Vote for that!

That's why I'm the voice of doom.