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UK’s new climate change tsar
Original: Facing down the heat
Alok Jha, Guardian
His brief includes foot-and-mouth disease, and GM foods. But as the government’s chief environmental scientist, Robert Watson’s number one priority is the fight against climate change. reports
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Robert Watson, the government’s new climate change tsar, has held several influential and high-profile jobs in a glittering career spanning world-class universities, Nasa and the World Bank. But he is probably most famous for being fired.
In 2002, Watson was ousted as chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), after pressure from the Bush administration. Lobbyists from the American oil industry reportedly pressed the new president to replace Watson at the earliest possible opportunity for a heinous crime: claiming that humans were contributing to climate change by burning fossil fuels, and then getting a 2,500-strong group of experts to produce influential and carefully constructed scientific reviews to prove it.
The oil men hoped to change the course of the IPCC, and stop the world waking up to some of the awful truths about climate change. Five years on, they must feel a little dejected: a series of reports by the IPCC this year unequivocally linked climate change to human activity and the conclusions forcefully proved what Watson had been saying for more than a decade.
He does not dwell on the past. In any case, for him linking climate change to human activity is old news. As chief scientist at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), he is pushing a new message: cutting greenhouse gas emissions is not enough to deal with climate change and the world needs to urgently start adapting to a level of change that is now inevitable.
“Even if we were to stabilise the concentration of greenhouse gases at today’s levels, which is impossible, we would still see a further half degree or so just built up on past emissions,” he says.
(24 October 2007)
White House edits CDC climate testimony
H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press
The White House severely edited congressional testimony given Tuesday by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the impact of climate change on health, removing specific scientific references to potential health risks, according to two sources familiar with the documents.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Atlanta-based CDC, the government’s premier disease monitoring agency, told a Senate hearing that climate change “is anticipated to have a broad range of impacts on the health of Americans.”
But her prepared testimony was devoted almost entirely to the CDC’s preparation, with few details on what effects climate change could have on the spread of disease. Only during questioning did she describe some specific diseases that likely would be affected, again without elaboration.
Her testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee had much less information on health risks than a much longer draft version Gerberding submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review in advance of her appearance.
“It was eviscerated,” said a CDC official, familiar with both versions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the review process.
(23 October 2007)
The next French revolution: Nicolas Sarkozy sets out his plans for a green future
Charles Bremne, UK Times
President Sarkozy will attempt to claim leadership of the environmental movement tomorrow, but his promises of a radical, green France risk falling victim to a reluctance to raise taxes, drop speed limits or touch the country’s reliance on nuclear power.
“Carbon labels” for supermarket products and anti-pollution incentives for new cars are among ideas that are likely to be endorsed by Mr Sarkozy when he presides over the conclusion of a two-day summit of French and global experts, campaigners, business groups and other lobbies.
“Super-Sarko” promised a masterplan for a green revolution in his election campaign in the spring. The proposals endorsed by the President will be sent to parliament to become law early next year.
Al Gore, the former US VicePresident who won the Nobel Peace prize for his green advocacy this month, will be with Mr Sarkozy for the session tomorrow at the Élysée Palace
(24 October 2007)
David Roberts comments at Gristmill: Cheese-eating tax monkeys: French PM Sarkozy backs carbon tax
Steinmeier: climate change growing threat to peace
Erik Kirschbaum, Reuters
Climate change is a growing threat to world peace and has led to rival territorial claims in the Arctic that could turn into a Cold War, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Tuesday.
Political solutions are needed now to problems posed by climate change that threaten peace in areas ranging from Africa to the Middle East and even the Arctic, Steinmeier told a conference on climate change.
“There’s a ‘Cold War’ at the North Pole that we have to prevent,” he said.
(24 October 2007)
