[Vision2020] Worldwide Mobilization At Wartime Speed: G8's Regression

[Ted Moffett]

Who believes this plan has any chance of being adopted?

http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB3/80by2020.htm
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Vision2020 has been peppered with examples of politicized
dismissal, promotion of uncertainty that exaggerates the scientific
significance of the skeptics, outright hostility, or apathy towards the
problem of anthropogenic climate change.  Or if the problem is acknowledged
as significant, the economic impacts of substantially addressing it are
assesd as too great, apparently downplaying that the long term economic
impacts of climate change will be gigantic, as the Stern Report has
indicated, with long term costs greater than the costs of addressing the
problem now:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/stern_review_economics_climate_change/sternreview_index.cfm
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Given the opposition of powerful corporate, national and political
interests, who will fight tooth and nail not to surrender their legacy power
base dependent on fossil fuels, the developing world's (China, India et.
al.) continuing economic expansion based largely on fossil fuels, especially
cheap coal, and that many consumers do not want to assume any economic
sacrifice in the short term for long term climate change mitigation,
especially with higher energy prices from soaring oil costs, already
straining budgets, I'd bet that in 2020 global CO2 emissions are higher than
today.

Also, I think the critics of rosy climate change mitigation economics are
likely correct, in the short term, that the poor will especially suffer from
the economic impacts of lowering fossil fuel use, or more costly CO2
sequestration for coal energy (coal is perhaps the main fossil fuel/energy
source to address in climate mitigation efforts, given huge global reserves
and its cheap energy), though the long term impacts on the poor from climate
change will be enormous, balancing the long term equation in favor of
addressing climate change now to help the poor long term.

The just issued G8 statement on climate change
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/TKN002947.htm , the failed Kyoto
protocols (a good failed idea, because it at least put the issue on the
international table), the European Union's efforts, the climate mitigation
efforts of US states (California's efforts tied up in court:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/washington/20epa-web.html ) trying
independently to lower emissions, while the US Federal government avoids
more substantially addressing the problem, other international agreements to
lower global CO2 emissions upcoming, and the laudable work of the Earth
Policy Institute, the IPCC, the National Academy of Sciences, and others,
will amount to a lot of hot air:

http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB3/80by2020.htm

>From URL above:

"Cutting CO2 emissions 80 percent by 2020 will take a worldwide mobilization
at wartime speed."
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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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