What's your state and city going to do about Climate Change and Extreme Weather events?
Start asking them. Find out.
Time is right to make progress on climate change
by Paul Bledsoe, politico.com -- 1/15/13
Paul Bledsoe is an independent energy consultant based in Washington.
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Many business interests and state and local officials are reaching the same conclusion. Peter Hoppe, chief risk researcher for Munich Re, the large reinsurance company, recently reported that climate change increased disaster costs in the U.S. in 2012, even before Sandy. “Previously, there had not been such a strong chain of evidence,” Hoppe said. Throughout the country, governors, mayors and other local officials are growing more concerned and vocal about climate-change impacts, not least because they are responsible for emergency services, infrastructure replacement and other responses. And costs to taxpayers are rising. For example, the growing size and intensity of Western wildfires as a result of drought and forest health decline tied to climate change means that the U.S. Forest Service now spends more than half of its annual budget simply fighting fires, up from just 15 percent two decades ago.
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But the best way to limit impacts and resulting costs is to cut emissions of climate pollutants. The good news is the U.S. is doing just that. A recent study by the nonpartisan Resources for the Future think tank finds that America is on track to meet the president’s 2009 pledge to lower U.S. emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. This progress must be highlighted to show policy naysayers on the left and right that in fact common-sense policies -- including administration actions raising auto fuel economy, implementing clean air regulation and developing lower emission energy sources -- are working. As Americans learn that emissions can be reduced without major costs, they will be far more likely to support additional policies
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Amazing! Forest Service spends about
half its budget fighting wild fires now, when 20 years ago that "service"
only accounted for 15% of what they did.
Here are some more details on ever-increasing disaster insurance costs, that Munich Re (the Insurer's Insurer) is significantly worried about:
The Insurers know the real score
by jamess -- Dec 02, 2012
much larger image -- Source: Munich Re.
The forecast calls for more of the same. The forecast calls for pain.
They crunched the numbers.
We really have little more time to waste ... Climate Action is needed now.
Climate change increases the risk of many types of record-breaking extreme weather events that threaten communities across the country. In 2012, there were 3,527 monthly weather records broken for heat, rain, and snow in the US, according to information from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).1 That's even more than the 3,251 records smashed in 2011 -- and some of the newly-broken records had stood for 30 years or more.
Check out the interactive map below to find out what events hit your area.
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Click Here for the interactive map/video of 2012 Extreme Weather Events -- happening in a state near you!
Many thanks to the dedicated work of the NRDC -- Natural Resources Defense Council.
They've been crunching the numbers and making forecasts, for quite a while themselves now too.
Their forecast calls for us all to get involved, to pay attention, to demand action.
The time is right for climate change action. The time to act is now.
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We really have VERY little more time to waste ... were not getting any cooler, you know.
It's a Math problem. Sometimes more, is not better.