Governors pledge to fight global warming together

By SAMANTHA YOUNG | AP

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his counterparts in 12 states and regional leaders from four other countries signed a declaration Wednesday pledging to work together to combat global warming, a move Schwarzenegger said will help push heads of state to curb their nations’ greenhouse gas emissions.

The document was signed on the last day of an international climate summit organized by the California governor, who hopes the two-day event will inform U.N. negotiations in Poland next month on a new global climate treaty that is to be completed by the end of next year.

“We have to draw people into the debate,” Schwarzenegger said during an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. “We have no choice. In the end, we are going to destroy the world” if greenhouse gases are not reduced.

The governors and regional leaders in Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia agreed in the document to develop policy positions on the industries that produce the most greenhouse gases — forestry, agriculture, cement, iron, aluminum, energy and transportation.

Those reports will then be forwarded to the United Nations. The chairman of a state pollution control board in India also signed the declaration.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat and one of four other governors co-hosting the summit, said it is incumbent on states to cut emissions because of the lack of action so far at the federal level.

Republican Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida and Democratic Govs. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Jim Doyle of Wisconsin are the other co-hosts of Schwarzenegger’s conference, titled the Governors’ Global Climate Summit.

Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has advocated strict reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, said he organized the gathering to show local governments in other countries that emissions can be cut without harming the economy.

Since taking office in 2003, he has entered into partnerships with the governors of seven Western states and four Canadian provinces in an effort to help polluting industries buy credits from other companies that have been able to reduce their emissions.

In a speech to the conference Wednesday, Schwarzenegger said national economies will be harmed if governments fail to cut emissions.

“We can do it with fairness and equity so all our economies will flourish … and no one is being held back,” Schwarzenegger said.

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UN climate change chief hails Obama commitments

 

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — The recent commitments on global warming by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama mark a new beginning for world negotiations to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the head of the U.N.’s climate change body said Wednesday.

Obama “indicated that he wants to show leadership both domestically and internationally,” said Yvo de Boer, executive director of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. “I feel that that’s a very important signal of encouragement for all of the countries in these negotiations,” he told The Associated Press.

Obama on Tuesday issued a video message to a climate change conference held in California by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying he would establish annual targets to reduce U.S. carbon emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020, and aim to lower them another 80 percent by 2050.

This marks a striking break from the administration of George W. Bush, which did not curb U.S. emissions and declined to sign the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases.

China also refused to sign, meaning the world’s two largest emitters are not included in the treaty, which expires in 2012.

U.N. negotiators have until December 2009 to complete the next global warming treaty. De Boer said Obama’s commitment would significantly increase chances of a solid new agreement.

“The lesson of Kyoto is that we clearly need to find a way forward that the United States is willing to commit to,” de Boer said in Algiers outside a conference of African environment ministers.

The U.N. climate official said he was “happy” about Obama’s “willingness to lead, because that really is what the international community is waiting for.”

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On Climate Change, Environmental Groups Want Obama to Reverse Troubled Bush Legacy

 

By Kent Garber | US News

When President Bush announced his decision to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming in March 2001, he ushered in an era of disappointment and frustration for climate change advocates.

Today, buoyed by Barack Obama’s victory, environmentalists are optimistic that that era is ending. But they say progress on climate change matters—which most groups rank as one of their top priorities for the new Congress—will require not only the support of the next president but also new strategies and ideas to avoid a repeat of past legislative and public relations failures.

The next 12 to 13 months will very likely involve a delicate, deliberate dance as President Obama and the new Congress attempt to tackle global warming issues both at home and abroad—a new international climate change treaty is expected to be signed in December 2009 in Copenhagen—while also navigating the rapidly changing contours of a global economic crisis.

The timing of these efforts could prove critical. Most environmentalists see adopting a cap-and-trade program, under which the government would set caps on emissions and require bigger polluters to buy credits, as the cornerstone of any national climate change policy. On Tuesday, in a video address to a summit of governors and foreign officials, Obama reaffirmed his commitment to the idea, saying the United States must reduce carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent by 2050—in line with proposals by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

But getting a cap-and-trade program through Congress, even with its greater Democratic majority, will likely be a lengthy and arduous task, and some environmentalists, noting the failure of past climate change bills, say rushing the legislative effort is a bad idea. Instead, they’re looking for Obama to tackle the issue in stages: First, by putting a strong energy bill through Congress in the first months of his administration that would focus on green energy and job creation, and then returning to cap-and-trade efforts later in the year.

Richard Moss, managing director for climate change at the World Wildlife Fund, says that energy legislation supporting renewable energy and energy efficiency will help lay the foundation for greenhouse gas emission reductions. But he also notes that Obama will be under pressure to work with Congress on setting emissions targets before Copenhagen. “History teaches us we are not going to be very successful if we drive our climate change policy by international agreement,” Moss said. “Kyoto Protocol is an unfortunate case of agreeing internationally on climate change targets without paying adequate attention to Congress.”

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Five Major U.S. Companies Call for Congressional Action on Climate Change, Clean Energy

PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX

Nike, Starbucks, Levi Strauss, Sun Microsystems and Timberland Challenge Lawmakers to Raise the Bar for U.S. Climate and Energy Policy; 8 Principles Seek CO2 Emission Cuts, Clean Energy Investments, Coal Plant Limits Five leading U.S. corporations joined with Ceres today to announce the launch of a new business coalition calling for strong U.S. climate and energy legislation in early 2009 to spur the clean energy economy and reduce global warming pollution. The group’s key principles include stimulating renewable energy, promoting energy efficiency and green jobs, requiring 100 percent auction of carbon allowances, and limiting new coal-fired power plants to those that capture and store carbon emissions.

The founding members of Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP) are Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, Starbucks, Sun Microsystems and The Timberland Company. BICEP members believe that climate change impacts will ripple across all sectors of the economy and that various new business perspectives are needed to provide a full spectrum of viewpoints for solving the climate and energy challenges facing America.

“These companies have a clear message for next year’s Congress: move quickly on climate change to kick-start a transition to a prosperous clean energy economy fueled by green jobs,” said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres, which helped organize BICEP. “Climate change is a threat to any business that relies on an agricultural product like we do with coffee,” said Ben Packard, Starbucks vice president, global responsibility. “Starbucks believes that addressing climate change will help companies like ours reduce operating costs and mitigate future economic instability due to extreme weather conditions and agricultural loss.”

“Nike understands the value of investing in innovative solutions to address the challenges of sustainability, so we are proud to be part of a coalition of companies that believes legislative action on climate change and clean energy is not only urgent but imperative to creating positive, long-term change,” added Sarah Severn, Director of Horizons, corporate responsibility at Nike. The coalition’s goal is to work directly with key allies in the business community and members of Congress to pass meaningful energy and climate change legislation consistent with the following eight core principles:

* Set greenhouse gas reduction targets to at least 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

* Establish an economy-wide GHG cap-and-trade system that auctions 100 percent of carbon pollution allowances, promotes energy efficiency and accelerates clean energy technologies.

* Establish aggressive energy efficiency policies to achieve at least a doubling of our historic rate of energy efficiency improvement.

* Encourage transportation for a clean energy economy by promoting fuel-efficient vehicles, plug-in electric hybrids, low-carbon fuels, and transit-oriented development.

* Increase investment in energy efficiency, renewables and carbon capture and storage technologies while eliminating subsidies for fossil-fuel industries.

* Stimulate job growth through investment in climate-based solutions, especially “green-collar” jobs in low-income communities and others vulnerable to climate change’s economic impact.

* Adopt a national renewable portfolio standard requiring 20 percent of electricity to be generated from renewable energy sources by 2020, and 30 percent by 2030.

* Limit construction of new coal-fired power plants to those that capture and store carbon emissions, create incentives for carbon capture technology on new and existing plants, and phase out existing coal-based power plants that do not capture and store carbon by 2030.

“Large-scale climate change would have economic, social and environmental consequences for our business and the communities in which we operate,” said Hilary Krane, senior vice president of corporate affairs at Levi Strauss & Co. “We can voluntarily change our own behavior in the hopes of mitigating impacts and are doing so, but we also believe that U.S. government leadership is essential if we are to create an environment in which every U.S. company recognizes the role it must play in addressing climate change and the responsibilities associated with doing business in a carbon-constrained world.”

“At Sun we are committed to delivering innovative, energy efficient products that meet our customers needs without sacrificing the planet,” said David Douglas, chief sustainability officer at Sun Microsystems. “However, in order to make the aggressive changes needed to address our global climate challenges, energy efficiency will not be enough. Because of this, we are excited to band together with the founding members of BICEP in support of aggressive climate change and clean energy legislation that can help counter the impact of climate change while spurring U.S. job growth.”

“As an outdoor company, we are passionate about the environment and committed to protecting it,” said Betsy Blaisdell, Timberland’s manager of environmental stewardship. “We believe BICEP’s principles offer the most effective approach to the climate crisis – leveraging the collective strengths and resources of business to call on the federal government to help enact change.”

Experts: Warming to cause global water shortages by 2080

By Eileen Ng | Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Half the world’s population could face a shortage of clean water by 2080 because of climate change, experts warned Tuesday.

Wong Poh Poh, a professor at the National University of Singapore, told a regional conference that global warming was disrupting water flow patterns and increasing the severity of floods, droughts and storms — all of which reduce the availability of drinking water.

Wong said the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that as many as 2 billion people won’t have sufficient access to clean water by 2050. That figure is expected to rise to 3.2 billion by 2080 — nearly tripling the number who now do without it.

Reduced access to clean water — which refers to water that can be used for drinking, bathing or cooking — forces many villagers in poor countries to walk miles to reach supplies. Others, including those living in urban shanties, suffer from diseases caused by drinking from unclean sources.

At the beginning of the decade, the World Health Organization estimated that 1.1 billion people did not have sufficient access to clean water.

Asia, home to more than four billion people, is the most vulnerable region, especially India and China, where booming populations have placed tremendous stress on water sources, said Wong, a member of the U.N. panel.

“In Asia, water distribution is uneven and large areas are under water stress. Climate change is going to exacerbate this scarcity,” he told the two-day Asia Pacific Regional Water Conference attended by policymakers, government officials, academics, businessmen and consumer group representatives.

Scientists have said global climate change takes many forms, causing droughts in some areas while increasing flooding and the severity of cyclones in others. Droughts reduce water supply, and floods destroy the quality of water. Rising sea levels, for instance, increase the salt content at the mouths of many rivers, from which many Asians draw their drinking water.

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