A Symbolic Gesture -- Too Little, Too Late

Written by: Joyce Levine on Jun 7, 2007 4:19 PM EDT

Senator Obama deserves praise for talking about global warming and taking symbolic action to address it. However, I do not seem to remember recognition of John Edwards's call for federal legislation to address CAFE standards, proviision of "green" tips, or his other actions related to stemming the worst effects of global warming.

 Moreover, Mr. Obama's commitment to plant 3000 trees is far too little, and cutting GHG emissions 10% by 2020 will be too little, too late.

The global-warming crisis is NOW. The recently released report from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), noting that the observed effects all fall at the TOP of the predicted trajectory and are occurring must faster than previously estimated, should have been alarming enough for us to swarm Congress with emails, telephone calls, and civil demonstrations.

However, the news is almost certainly worse than the IPCC report would suggest, because it represents a consensus position -- that is, only the information that was fully agreed upon by all of its member scientists. In other words, this report does not contain an extreme position, as the world's climatologists see it. Thus, THE URGENCY OF CUTTING GREENHOUSE GASES SHOULD NOT BE UNDERESTIMATED IN ANY WAY.

The time is past for token, symbolic efforts. As the most prolific emitter of GHG, the United States MUST take serious action now to cut them. It is not too alarmist to state that the future of our civilization depends on our action now.

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