From an interview with the CEO of Duke Energy, Mr. Rogers, on 60 minutes, it again became distressingly clear that some people are not able to “connect the dots”, as the US-based climatologist Jim Hansen calls it.

Even though Mr. Rogers admits that his company is one of the largest CO2 emitters of the states, that the US needs a federal law to limit CO2 emissions, and that we urgently need to act on climate change, he does not draw the immediate consequences for his own company from that. (more…)

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On the last day of PowerShift 09 - climate education and activism by more than 12,000 youth that gathered from all over the US in D.C. - on March 2 2009, a large number of people will converge in D.C. to protest against coal (see earlier blog entry here and an article by the washington Pots by Bill McKibben here).

In this yet largest demonstration against coal-fired power plants in the U.S., participants will call for attention to the fact that CO2 concentration has risen to dangerous levels, and that we thus cannot afford to keep adding CO2 to the atmosphere. (more…)

*‘Tax and Trade’ is pseudonymously and sometimes disingenuously termed ‘Cap & Trade’Today,

February 25, 2009, James Hansen testified before the Committee on Ways and Means, United States House of Representatives. His suggestion to implement a carbon tax with 100% dividend is an ingenious way to speed up the changes away from fossil fuels that are so urgently needed. Currently, Europe is proceeding with the Cap and Trade System. But it might be useful to review its effectiveness critically and to ensure that the system we implement is indeed able to ensure the changes that are needed. Because if the system does fail, we might not have time to rectify our errors.

In the following is the reprint of Dr. Hansen’s testimony:

Our planet is in peril1. Climate disruption threatens everyone, but especially the young and the unborn, who will bear the full brunt through no fault of their own. Recent science makes it clear that if we continue to burn most of the fossil fuels we will leave our children a deteriorating situation out of their control. (more…)

Die Gerichtsaussage von Dr. James Hansen, gefolgt von einem Freispruch der angeklagten Greenpeace Aktivisten, ist ein wichtiger Erfolg für alle Klimaschützer. Unten die vollständige Version im original von Jim Hansen.

Good news from the UK: the Kingsnorth Six were acquitted by a Crown Court jury.  They were members of a group of 23 Greenpeace volunteers who had attempted to shut down the Kingsnorth coal-fired power plant, specifically the six were the ones painting the smokestack with “Gordon Bin It” when interrupted by the police.  Their defense was ‘lawful excuse’, that they were protecting property of greater value (the Earth!) from the impact of climate change.  We will need our Mercedes-driving lawyer friends to tell us if the verdict has greater significance — but the jurors were common people, not politicians.  It was an impressive show — judge and lawyers with their white wigs — hopefully it has an impact. (more…)

This report describes the insights of the American climatologist James Hansen from his trips to England, Germany, and Japan where he called for a moratorium on coal-fired power plants - unfortunately without success.

Germany

My “Dear Chancellor” letter was translated to German and about to be published in a German paper, but, upon advice of John Schellnhuber, science adviser to the German government, I removed the letter from my web site and withheld it from publication in Germany, instead accepting an invitation to speak with the Minister of the Environment, Sigmar Gabriel. That meeting occurred in June, with Schellnhuber and Stefan Rahmstorf in attendance.

I am grateful for Minister Gabriel’s generosity with his time, and I have no doubt about his sincerity in dealing with climate change. However, we did not come to a common understanding about the implications of geophysical boundary conditions on fossil fuels. The stark policy implication of the data, I assert, is urgency for a moratorium on coal-fired power plants. (more…)

Helfen Sie mit! Bis zum 22.8. sollen 350 Menschen einen Brief an Angela Merkel schreiben, um sie zu bitten, sich für den Stopp des Baus neuer Kohlekraftwerke einzusetzen.

Utopia hat gestern, zum Beginn der Olympischen Spiele, ihre eigene Olympiade gestartet: die Utopischen Spiele. Innerhalb von 14 Tagen, also bis zum 22. August, werden Utopisten aufgefordert, ein sich selbst gestecktes Ziel zu erreichen.

Mein Ziel ist es, bis zum 22.8. 350 Menschen dazu zu motivieren, einen Brief an Angela Merkel zu schreiben, in dem sie höflich aber eindringlich daran erinnert wird,

• dass die CO2 Konzentration unserer Atmosphäre schon heute mit 385 ppm oberhalb des langfristig für uns sicheren Zustandes ist,

(more…)

Reposted from WorldChanging; by Alan AtKisson

Here at the Tällberg Forum– Sweden’s annual festival of words and music, science and dreams about sustainability and globalization — things are getting a little clearer. This is the last day, so it’s just in time.

Take 350, for example. This morning I went to the great big tent to join a very small group in a “Hosted Conversation” on the topic of communication and climate change. Bill McKibben, originator of 350.org, was there. So was Mark Lynas, who wrote Six Degrees, as well as two of Sweden’s TV meteorologists (the weather is so important here that weather reporters have become key climate change communicators). And the King was there as well, with a surprisingly small retinue, just listening. We heard from (more…)

Washington, D.C. June 23, 2008 - Exactly 20 years have passed since Dr. James E. Hansen of NASA first testified to Congress on June 23, 1988 that global temperatures had risen beyond the range of natural variability. Waiting another 20 years before taking decisive action is not an option.

Since 1988, mainstream scientific thinking has caught up with Dr. Hansen’s declaration that our climate is being adversely affected by human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels-and the forecasts of climate change in the coming decades are increasingly dire. (more…)

Here is a simple easy streight forward way out of the climate problem, described by Dr. James Hansen.  The original post is at Jim Hansen’s website.

The “Carbon Tax and 100% Dividend” chart warrants discussion. Tax and dividend is the policy complement that must accompany recognition of fossil carbon reservoir sizes for strategic solution of global warming (the physics: reservoir sizes imply the need to phase-out coal emissions promptly and quash unconventional fossil fuels).

Tax and 100% dividend can drive innovation and economic growth with a snowballing effect. Carbon emissions will plummet far faster than in top-down or Manhattan projects. A clean environment that supports all life on the planet can be restored. (more…)

By Bill McKibben, reposted from TomDispatch.com

Even for Americans, constitutionally convinced that there will always be a second act, and a third, and a do-over after that, and, if necessary, a little public repentance and forgiveness and a Brand New Start — even for us, the world looks a little Terminal right now.

It’s not just the economy. We’ve gone through swoons before. It’s that gas at $4 a gallon means we’re running out, at least of the cheap stuff that built our sprawling society. It’s that when we try to turn corn into gas, it sends the price of a loaf of bread shooting upwards and starts food riots on three continents. It’s that everything is so inextricably tied together. (more…)