Entire article.How are the Kyoto signatories—chiefly the European Union (EU), Japan and Canada—doing at meeting their emissions targets? Emissions from the EU-15 have dropped by 1.5 percent since 1990, which is still well above their agreed target reduction of 8 percent below what they emitted in 1990. A report last year from the European Environment Agency projected that the EU-15 would not likely reach their 2012 Kyoto Protocol emissions target unless they adopt more stringent policies. Nevertheless, the EU jauntily declared that it would cut its GHG emissions by 20 percent below its 1990 level by 2020.
Canada committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 6 percent below its 1990 level, but as of 2004, Canada emitted 27 percent more GHG than it did in 1990. Japan is supposed to cut its GHG emissions by 6 percent, but recent projections suggest that it may emit 2 percent more than it did in 1990. For comparison, U.S. GHG emissions are up over 16 percent of what they were in 1990.
At the U.N. meeting on Monday, the EU, Canada, and Japan all came out in favor of a binding target of cutting GHG emissions by 50 percent below their 1990 levels by 2050. The Bush Administration is against binding reductions targets, preferring to focus on research to develop clean energy technologies that do not emit GHGs—e.g., nuclear, wind, solar and carbon capture and sequestration technologies. Carbon sequestration means burying carbon dioxide produced from burning fossil fuels by injecting it into underground reservoirs. At the U.N. climate confab, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice declared, "Ultimately, we must develop and bring to market new energy technologies that transcend the current system of fossil fuels, carbon emissions and economic activity. Put simply, the world needs a technological revolution."
Embarrassing. Canada has got to get its act together on this.
As for the U.S. "solution", they are hand-waving in order to justify inaction. Instead, we need to a) reduce emissions now and b) work towards the development of cleaner technology. It's not an either/or scenario.
Related article: "Canadian shame at the UN's conference on global warming (2006)."
I like it hot.
ReplyDeleteGlobal warming is not a fact beyond a slight increase over the past 100 yeaers. Global warming is a non issue. The science is clear that we do not have a material problem. Canada has to date reacted well to the false claims uttered by those scientists advocating a problem that their data does not suggest. A
ReplyDeleteA few facts ...
The temperature increases in the past century are not as significant as previously stated ... please see http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/sci;316/5833/1844a.pdf.
The hockey stick Manning et al creted has been debunked. Even the IPCC has recanted this one. Hansen has been also requried to restate temepartures downward. It looks like more to come on this front.
The assertion that CO2 and more specifically man made CO2 is the driver of warming is not founded when looking at the geological record. CO2 lags by ~800 years.
The climate models are not robust. When several of the models have their parameters set using historical data they predict little to no material warming.
The assertion that deniers are motivated by big business is is false. The real question is what is motivating alarmists. I would say funding.
Even after all this you insist to fear the facts show that we can do more with the resoruces than fight global warming to improve humanity (Lomburg).
I think you need to look at the facts and stop feeling your way through this issue.