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China drafts plan to curb emissions
Mary-Anne Toy, Sydney Morning Herald (Aus.)
Beijing – China, poised to become the biggest emitter of global-warming gases by 2009, is preparing its first national strategy to combat climate change, boosting hopes the world’s most populous country may become a serious player in efforts to combat global warming.
The national plan will reportedly set broad goals for cutting emissions, something that China, as a developing country, is exempt from doing despite being a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol.
Zou Ji, a climate policy expert and government policy adviser, said the plan had been at least two years in negotiation among a dozen ministries and agencies. It is awaiting approval from the State Council and is likely to be released this year.
However a major Communist Party congress is being held later this year, and traditionally such an event slows down approval of radical policies as leaders focus on political jockeying.
China’s state-run media all but ignored last Friday’s report by a UN panel of scientists that warned human activity is almost certainly behind global warming.
But Professor Zou, who has been a member of Chinese delegations to international climate talks since 2000, said behind-the-scenes, China’s leaders shared deepening global concern that greenhouse gases from factories, power plants and vehicles would seriously alter the world’s climate. ..
(6 Feb 2007)
Is President Bush changing his views on global warming?
ABC News
Administration’s Views on Climate Appear to Be Shifting
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Is President Bush changing his views on global warming?
ABC’s Betsy Stark recently traveled with the president on Air Force One to a Caterpillar plant in Peoria, where he talked about his economic agenda and promoted his trade policies following his State of the Union address.
…In her exclusive interview, she asked the president about his views on global warming and the recent call by CEO’s of 10 major companies to place mandatory emission caps on greenhouse gasses that are heating the planet. Caterpillar is one of 10 corporations that have joined this “Climate Action Partnership,” urging President Bush and Congress to limit the emissions generated from burning fossil fuels.
“We have spent more money on technology and also research than anybody else – $9 billion on basic scientific research strictly into global warming, which very likely is more than the rest of the world combined,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said today.
(7 Feb 2007)
At the original, there’s a video interview with President Bush on global warming.
Chris Mooney is not buying it: Rewriting History, and Lying to the Public
Key players react to the IPCC global warming report
Christian Science Monitor
A collection of statements from from around the world – including environmental advocates and oil companies.
(8 Feb 2007)
Britain helps citizens atone for emissions
Mark Rice-Oxley, Christian Science Monitor
The government unveiled a plan to help consumers more effectively offset the carbon dioxide their lifestyles produce.
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LONDON – So you took that transatlantic flight, paid $20 to offset the greenhouse gases ejected by the plane, and reduced your carbon footprint. But did you really help save the planet?
As the clamor over global warming gets ever louder, the practice of carbon offsetting – paying a third party to remove or otherwise offset an amount of carbon equivalent to the volume emitted – is now falling under close scrutiny.
Environmental experts are warning that some projects are less effective than others, and say the market urgently needs some form of regulation: Carbon-offsetting prices vary enormously, from around $10 to $50 a ton, and consumers have little idea what they are actually getting for their money.
“Part of the problem is that there are no real standards for carbon offsetting,” says Richard Tarasofsky, a sustainable development expert at the London-based Chatham House think tank. Without international certification, he says, the new fad could quickly be compromised.
(8 Feb 2007)
