The Keystone to a serious climate policy
Michael Mann is director of Penn State University's Earth System Science Center, and a genuine hero, who has been attacked by the climate denial nexus, which has tried to destroy his career. And he is
fighting back. His
brief statement on President Obama's climate speech needs to be read in its entirety, but here are some key points:
Ultimately, we need a comprehensive energy and climate policy that prices carbon pollution and levels the playing field for renewable sources of energy that are not degrading our climate and planet. But given that we have an intransigent congress (the current House Science committee leadership continues to deny even the existence of human-caused climate change), the president has been forced to turn to executive actions. His call for carbon emission limits on all coal-fired power plants, not just newly built plants, is a bold step forward. It will go some way to stemming our growing carbon emissions, and the impact they are having on our climate.
And he highlights what will to a great degree define the president's legacy on climate:
The President's comments about the Keystone XL pipeline are also encouraging.
That Mann would in such a short statement specifically mention KXL underscores the importance of this upcoming decision. Simply put:
this should translate to a decision not to move forward on that project.
And here's the powerful close:
All in all, it is the most aggressive and promising climate plan to come out of the executive branch in years, and President Obama should be applauded for the bold leadership he has shown in confronting the climate change threat head on.
President Obama is one key decision from carving a legacy as the world leader on addressing the
most important issue humanity has ever faced.