The Climate Crisis is upon us. Layer upon layer of peer-reviewed research, and the day to day reporting of evidence from every corner of the Earth, makes it clear that we needed to have taken urgent action yesterday to begin reducing the magnitude of the problems that lie ahead.
"When you are in a hole, don't keep digging". Towards that end, it is essential that no new coal plants lacking the technology to control carbon dioxide emission be built in the United States.
The individual who takes a seat behind the large desk in the Oval Office on January 18, 2009 will probably determine whether or not there is any chance this planet will avoid catastrophic climate change. On this weekly diary (every Tuesday until Nov. 7, 2008), every major candidate for President of the United States can take the pledge. All candidate records will be updated as the information becomes available.
Below the fold:
- Week 58 Update
- Top climate scientist on why this may be the most important step that a candidate can take on the climate crisis.
- The Candidates' Pledge.
WEEK 58 UPDATE: LCV has candidates' responses to question on coal. Biden is closest and says he will not approve unsequestered coal plants - but does not mention ban; Obama and Clinton only go as far as to support clean coal; and Republicans do not even return questionnaire.
Climate expert, an Iowa native, calls coal biggest threat
By TOM BARTON
DES MOINES REGISTER STAFF WRITER
August 6, 2007
Al Gore called him the "most powerful and consistent voice" in the national debate on global climate change in 2006.
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On Sunday afternoon, under a blistering hot sun and a heat index in the low 90s, James Hansen, a Denison native and outspoken global warming expert, called for a moratorium on coal-fueled power plants in the United States and the creation of a federal carbon czar to monitor taxes levied on businesses for carbon emissions.
"The science is clear. If we do not reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, climate extremes will increase and we will exterminate many of the species on the planet," Hansen said to roughly 250 people during the ReEnergize Iowa rally at Nollen Plaza in downtown Des Moines.
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Hansen said Sunday that coal plants pose the greatest threat to the nation's environment.
"Until there is technology to make them truly clean, there needs to be a moratorium," Hansen said. "There are claims that some of the new plants will be clean, but they don't really mean that in the sense of capturing carbon dioxide and sequestering it."
He said the amount of carbon dioxide released from oil and natural gas is enough to plunge the United States into a "global climate pandemic," but that technology is not yet adequate to curb such emissions.
"You can't capture the carbon dioxide coming out the tailpipe of vehicles. It's just not practical. But what is practical is to capture it at power plants," he said. "And there is so much more carbon in coal than there is oil and gas. That's where the great danger is.
"If we could just solve that problem, we would have more than half of the problem solved in terms of stabilizing the climate."
THE PLEDGE
I Support A Ban On New Coal Plants Lacking Technology To Capture Carbon Dioxide Emissions.
Joe Biden NO POSITION
Hillary Clinton NO POSITION
Chris Dodd YEA
John Edwards YEA
Barack Obama NO POSITION
Bill Richardson NO POSITION
Rudolph Guiliani NO POSITION
Mike Huckabee NO POSITION
Duncan Hunter NO POSITION
John McCain NO POSITION
Mitt Romney NO POSITION
Fred Thompson NO POSITION