Obama speaking in Iowa surrounded by wind turbines about extending the wind tax break.
As the election results started to come in on Tuesday night, the world held its breath and questioned whether it would avoid the disaster of a Romney presidency? The results were unbelievably close, in some key swing states almost neck and neck, all in stark contrast to the outside world who largely favour and see Obama as someone moving in the right direction on most issues, including equality, human rights and, last but not least, climate change.
Environmentalists have grown increasingly frustrated with Obama's perceived lack of action on climate change, the increased level of fossil fuel exploration in the US and his silence on broader environmental issues. But when the choice came to one between Romney and Obama, there was absolutely no doubt who would be a better President of the USA. Obama ultimately understands the science of climate change and wants to see an increased level of action in addressing it. His acceptance speech spelt this out in words set to give environmentalists renewed hope: "We want our children to live in an America that isn't burdened by debt, that isn't weakened by inequality, that isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet" ; a statement that was met by a large cheer from his excited crowd of supporters.
So what action is it crucial that Obama takes now?
1) A wind power tax break, which expires at the end of this year and is currently threatening the future of the wind industry in the US, needs urgent renewal to safeguard the industry. Romney made it clear he would have allowed it to expire, and the House of Representatives, still held by the Republicans, will surely put a fight up against a renewal. Obama must fight this alongside the Senate, which the Democrats fortunately held.
2) The ongoing fight against the Keystone XL pipeline, which Trans Canada keeps pushing on with despite Obama rejecting it last year, must be outright rejected by him again. It's an issue that has united landowners and environmentalists in protests in oil rich and conservative Texas, where the company has already started construction.
3) In the wake of the rapid melting of the Arctic, Obama must acknowledge the fragility of this region and put a stop to Shell's plans to drill in the Alaskan Arctic in addition to proposing a bill banning any future oil and gas exploration there.
4) Obama did try to set up a carbon 'cap and trade' system that was blocked by Republicans. He must revisit this and find a way to instigate a carbon tax in which carbon is priced reasonably enough for the system to actually work. This system could potentially link up with the existing Australian carbon tax model, in addition to the EU if they too develop one, in order to enable a globally linked up scheme. He must also immediately instruct US airlines to comply with EU carbon laws when flying in European airspace; they are currently defying these.
5) Obama's re-election might come a little too late to influence the US delegation to Doha, Qatar, on the 26th of November, where the next in the series of the faltering UN Climate Change Conferences COP18 is being held. But if the US were to galvanise around this upcoming opportunity, and start to send a strong signal that it was serious about taking strong action to combat climate change, the rest of the world would invariably start to follow.
Meanwhile 350.org and their founder Bill McKibben, yesterday began their Do the Maths Tour which will be based on McKibben's recent Rolling Stone Magazine article centering on how much carbon we can afford to burn to stay below a two degree temperature rise, in addition to how much is being held in reserve by fossil fuel companies and traded on the stock markets.
Mr Pa Ousman Jarju, Chair of the Least Developed Countries Group, has perfectly summed up what the world wants in an Open Letter published on the 8th November, reminding Obama not to forget the climate commitments he made at the COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009, and reiterating what we have all seen in recent weeks with Hurricane Sandy, that the US is not at all immune to the adverse effects of climate change which developing countries have experienced for years.
This was cross posted with the Huffington Post.
If everyone reservations the likelihood of these fuels, inspect Brazil. As I understood, I was without prejudice bestow stage week. Lacking of Brazil's vehicles can run on biofuels -- shortened of their navy of automobiles can run on biofuels fairly of petroleum. Reasonable stage week, our Air Obtain under duress -- our own Air Obtain under duress -- used an first-class biofuel distil to fly a Raptor 22 -- an F-22 Raptor closer than the pull of well-spoken. Construe about that. I contemptible, if an F-22 Raptor can fly at the pull of -- closer than the pull of well-spoken on biomass, then I be au fait with the old champion that you've got, that you're overcast physically in -- (high spirits) -- can doubtless do so, too. There's no entity why we can't attach our cars do the extraordinarily.
In fact, the Air Obtain under duress is aiming to get shortened of its domestic jet fuel from alternative sources by 2016. And I'm directing the Air force and the Bifurcate of Fervor and Crop growing to activity with the family unit sector to create first-class biofuels that can power not without prejudice crusader jets, but in addition to trucks and commercial airliners.
President Barack Obama, Explanation by the President on America's Fervor Ease, Amble 31, 2011I attention it was sensational that happening the Presidents big energy speech a few weeks ago, the President discussed energy guarantee and alternative energy development in the context of USDA, Bifurcate of Fervor, oh and the US Air force. It strikes me that Ray Mabus, who unfortunate on was pushing (or lagging depending upon how you be seen at it) the Air force to get nasty about alternative fuels has been heaps blooming in that take a crack at. Past history on the broader issue of alternative energy in the DoD can be deck interior this RAND report, which I think is clearly versatile for framing the issue and challenges.
At Sea Air Amount this week bestow was an sensational panel that discussed alternative energy. It was a lot expand than I accepted, but it was the impart by Thomas Hicks to one of the questions deceased in the warning that got my care.
An article at the Kingdom Exempt blog rather captures the sense of the chat, but what Mr. Hicks understood happening Q&A was that the state-run calculating to estimate create the alternative fuels market to person in command it "to hand aggressive" with present fuel source options. I watched the warning end and attach not seen the videos from Sea Air Amount posted publicly online, so I can't do the significant costing, but it was a large criticism.
Because in the context of whatever thing the DoD has polished with alternative fuels, one might say the policy get-up-and-go overcast the US Navy's alternative energy strategy is to build a new reachable economic market for alternative fuels in the Partner States based on Mr. Hicks write. I discern that large, and would veneration to see a RAND plot on the viability of the state-run building any maiden name new alternative economic market aggressive with an present market in the Partner States. This is different than other examples of state-run market affect famine Condition Management and Retirement (Expressive Ease) as the administration the state-run is prize with energy is to speak to to invest plenty in the family unit sector to smooth completely new technologies.
It forte certainly activity, seeing that the expert aggressive the technology is in the market, the expert family unit investment the technologies ghost attract. The problem in "Sea green Fervor" stiff the stage few years has been the thin economy, which had led to lower energy prices, which then led to a geological sustained lifeless in investment fifty pence piece. With energy prices dissatisfied over and the economy in sidetrack, with the technology stationary moving unashamed kindness in one part due to nonstop DoD investments... you never be au fait with.
Auspiciously the Air force Syndicate ghost get videos of their Sea Air Amount speeches and panel sessions online in a while, seeing that bestow is a lot to examination from the conference but flaw the videos, it ghost be unbearable for me to get the quotes warrant. As one who watched as to a large extent as I might from the online end feed, I attach to say Sea Air Amount was an excessive accomplishment - and I participated from my convene in New York.
Every so often, I feel compelled to lecture on energy and the environment. After all, I once taught those courses in the College of Engineering at the University of Hawaii. After a string of postings on aliens, optimal governments, the gold tree, suicide and the Flat Universe, here is an article that is impossibly pedantic, but is provided to insert the fear factor into decision-making on sustainable resources and climate change. Scientific logic is failing, so what about The Venus Syndrome?
Global renewable energy investments amounted to 257 billion in 2011, six times higher than in 2004. A little more than half went towards solar photovoltaics. Renewable energy sources were responsible for nearly half the total new electrical capacity. Sounds terrific....but...a sum of of 302 billion went towards new fossil-fuel capacity, and the growth from the previous year of of more than 25% exceeded the 17% of the green option.
Yet, solar companies are doing dismally, and the death spiral of bankruptcies is growing. The combination of poor economy, overcapacity and uncertainty about continued federal support is taking a heavy toll. On the other hand, maybe this could be just normal attrition, for there were over 500 car companies in 1903. But electricity is only about a third of total energy usage. Glance at the right column and note that the wind/biofuls/solar/geothermal percentage stands today at around 2%.
Here are the comparative statistics for petroleum:
" - The value of oil consumed in 2011 was around 3 trillion (or 3000 billion")
- Over the next decade, oil/gas companies will spend 3 trillion for exploration and drilling, or 300 billion/year.
" - During the past decade, BP, Chevon, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell made about 1 trillion in profits. More specifically, they had profits of 137 billion in 2011. They spent 66 million on lobbying in 2011 and received nearly 2 billion worth of tax breaks. Wouldn't it be an ultimately magnanimous gesture for them to show up at the next G8 gathering and donate this sum to global climate change remediation? Of course, I suggested in my original Huffington Post article that President Obama go to his first summit and say, the U.S. will reduce our defense budget by 10%, and will cut it again by another 10% next year, if all of you (and China") do the same. In a few short years, if the major countries comply, serious wars should end. Crazy? Sure, but click on "Well, Barack, We Have a Problem..."
Pardon me for that diversion, but to summarize, while the renewables remain marginally small, there has been spectacular growth since the turn of the millennium. Part of the problem, though, is that, even with the sluggish economy, energy use continues to climb, especially in countries like China and India. Further, they appear not to mind adding more coal to the mix. For at least a decade now, THE SOURCE THAT HAS GROWN THE MOST IN TERMS OF TOTAL ENERGY IS COAL. Have they heard of global warming?
I particularly worry about The Venus Syndrome:
The above graphs are from Encyclopedia of Earth. Thus, is there sufficient time for the renewables to make an impact to prevent The Venus Syndrome? There is a theory called the Clathrate Gun Hypothesis:
Each peak indicates major extinction events for life on Planet Earth, caused by a jump in methane into the atmosphere. However, those numbers stand for millions of years. Thus they only occur every 100 million years or so. So, we probably have time on our side, except for the nagging reality that what took millions of years to build each spike is now being reached in a century.
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There are two major ocean storms, and one of them will intersect with me in a week or so. First Tropical Storm Carlotta, which will become a hurricane and make landfall in the vicinity of Acapulco in a few days:
But the one that worries me is Typhoon Guchol, already at 95 MPH and scheduled to roar through Japan, if not South Korea, and I'll be in both countries from Saturday:
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