Time to put climate change on the national agenda - John Kerry

[Mass]

If I am a single-issue person, that would be that.

So, thank you!!!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/08/09/EDGOBIQ0K61.DTL

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger met with more than a dozen top business officials to discuss climate change -- executives who have gathered in support of mandatory limits on greenhouse-gas emissions. Imagine that: Big Business stepping up to the plate, but the Bush administration refusing to take a seat at the table.

That's a conspicuous absence for a president who says that climate change "is a challenge that requires a 100-percent effort; ours and the rest of the world's." But it's not surprising for a president whose preferred policy is to rewrite science to protect oil-company profits at the expense of the general public.

Washington's climate policy is as real as its claim of "mission accomplished" in Iraq. But it is also the story of both major political parties at their worst -- ducking difficult choices, giving in to big donors, postponing reckoning until the day after tomorrow. If you offend no one, you change nothing. The world is changing, and now the reckoning is real.

Within the next decade, if we don't take meaningful action to address global warming, our children and grandchildren will deal with global catastrophe.

...

There are three big steps that are imperative to addressing global warming.

-- First, we must establish a mandatory program to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

-- Second, we must provide the incentives and resources to transition to a low-carbon economy.

-- Third, we must recognize that climate change is a global problem requiring a global solution.

Under President Bush, efforts to reduce U.S. emissions have been limited almost exclusively to voluntary activities. It's clear that the voluntary efforts are not getting the job done. The proof is in the numbers -- over the past several years, overall U.S. emissions have been on the rise. While voluntary programs can contribute to a domestic-climate change program, they cannot stimulate the global action that we know is necessary. Each year since 1992, the science has become more certain and Al Gore's summer movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," has brought the science home to Americans in a persuasive way.

S

U.S. Sen. John Kerry is the junior senator from Massachusetts and was the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee.

Note: I would post that on GD, but right now, it would sink. If somebody wants to post that later, please do.

[wisteria]

1. Nothing to add except that, I agree! n/t

[demdiva]

2. cool beans! gosh it's been a long time since i've used that phrase.

but this seems like the appropriate time!!!