Below is Al Gore’s speech that he gave January 29, 2009 at the Senate panel on climate change that was organized by Senator Kerry. Sentences are put into bold by MW.

We are here today to talk about how we as Americans and how the United States of America as part of the global community should address the dangerous and growing threat of the climate crisis.

We have arrived at a moment of decision. Our home – Earth – is in grave danger. What is at risk of being destroyed is not the planet itself, of course, but the conditions that have made it hospitable for human beings.

Moreover, we must face up to this urgent and unprecedented threat to the existence of our civilization at a time when our country must simultaneously solve two other worsening crises. Our economy is in its deepest recession since the 1930s. And our national security is endangered by a vicious terrorist network and the complex challenge of ending the war in Iraq honorably while winning the military and political struggle in Afghanistan.

As we search for solutions to all three of these challenges, it is becoming clearer that they are linked by a common thread – our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels. (more…)

Many environmentalists assume that putting a price on carbon and creating a renewable energy economy will require major public sacrifice. But the Sierra Club’s Carl Pope argues that a well-designed package of market reforms — not austerity — will lead to a prosperous, low-carbon future.
by Carl Pope, the executive Director of th Sierra Club

How painful will a low carbon economy be — and how painful will the transition be?

Confronted with the urgent need to reduce our economy’s greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent to 35 percent in the next 12 years, and 80 percent to 95 percent by mid-century, it is difficult to imagine this shift not requiring massive sacrifice. (more…)

After 2 years of planning, IRENA’s founding conference will be held today in Bonn, Germany.

Irena - the International Renewable Energy Agency - will be the driving force for promoting renewable energies in all UN countries. The first time in human history, renewable energies will be the focus of an international governmental agency. The founding of this new agency gives the urgency of the energy and climate crisis a new face - the face of hope and possibilities, and the face of trust and cooperation. It will help bridge the gap between rich and poor countries, as IRENA is going to offer support to both industrialized and developing nations.

Its main tasks will be (more…)

The European Wind Energy Association yesterday released its new outlook on job creation. The tenor: “Wind energy has come of age and more and more Europeans are attracted by the jobs created in the industry. Over the past five years, the EU wind energy industry has created more than 60,000 new jobs - an average of 33 new employees every day, seven days a week.” Read the full report

A note from Michael Moore, U.S. American outspoken activist, film-maker, writer, and mover and shaker for a better future.

Friends,

This happy, happy day!

We have made it through the Dark Ages and here we are, in one of the most redemptive moments history has ever witnessed. Barack Obama is our best hope to get it right, to heal our national soul, to reach out to the rest of the world with an olive branch instead of shocking brutality.

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who has worked to make this day happen. For many, the madness goes back, not eight years but twenty-eight years, to the tragic day Reagan was sworn in to dismantle our precious “government of the people” and our beloved way of life.

To all of you who have spoken up and spoken out, who have written letters and marched for peace, for all of you who never gave up, you are the true heroes today. (more…)

Wer schon öfter auf unserem Blog war, hat sicher schon von Jim Hansen gehöhrt: dem amerikanischen Klima-Wissenschaftler, der schon vor 20 Jahren vor dem amerikansicshen Kongreß vor den Folgen des Klimawandels gewarnt hat; der heute davor warnt, daß wir mit 385 ppm CO2 in der Atmosphäre schon weit oberhalb des akzeptablen Niveaus sind; der darauf pocht, daß wir die CO2 Konzentration so schnell wir möglich auf <350 ppm reduzieren müssen, und daß wir uns daher keine neuen Kohlekraftwerke ohne CCS leisten können.

Wenige Wissenschaftler trauen sich so wie Jim Hansen öffentlich ihre Meinung zu sagen. (more…)

In starkem Gegensatz zu Angela Merkels Regierungserklärung von gestern, gebrauchte President-Elect Barack Obama eindeutigere Worte bei einer Pressekonferenz letzten Dezember. Eingerahmt von dem zukünftigen Vize-Präsidenten Joe Biden, und dem ehemaligen Vize-Präsidenten Al Gore, meinte er - was Al Gore schon lange gepredigt hat: Die Zeit der Verzögerung und Ableugnung ist vorbei. (more…)

A new research report was just published, “Saving Energy at Home and on the Road: A survey of Americans’ energy saving behaviors, intentions, motivations, and barriers.” The report is based on a nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 Americans conducted in October and November.

In short, the study found that many Americans are ready, willing and able to save energy at home and when they travel. (more…)

Heat and Hope: Time Running Out for Steep Emissions Cuts

The world will have to reduce emissions more drastically than has been widely predicted, essentially ending the emission of carbon dioxide by 2050 to avoid catastrophic disruption to the world’s climate, according to State of the World 2009: Confronting Climate Change, released today by the Worldwatch Institute. Yet opportunities abound in renewable energy and efficiency improvements, agriculture and forestry, and the resilience of societies for slowing and managing climate change, according to the book’s 47 authors.

“We’re privileged to live at a moment in history when we can still avert a climate catastrophe that would leave the planet hostile to human development and well-being,” (more…)

In ihrer Regierungserklärung zum Konjunkturpaket meinte Angela Merkel heute, dass sie nicht in die Situation kommen möchte, in der wir später denken “Hätten wir doch etwas anderes getan”. Durch ihre “schwerste innennpolitische Entscheidung, die sie als Bundeskanzlerin zu treffen hatte”, werden insgesamt 80 Mia Euro (inklusive Gelder vom letzten Herbst) in Programme investiert, die die Konjunktur stärken sollen.

Etwas seltsam ist dabei, dass in ihrer 32:53 minütigen Rede gerade mal ca 30 Sekunden auf den Klimaschutz fielen. Noch seltsamer ist, dass unsere Kanzlerin kaum konkrete Massnahmen zum Klimaschutz aufführte (more…)