Next Friday, March 24, Greg Nickels will release the report of his Green Ribbon Commission on Climate Protection. For those of you not following the mayor's activities, he has taken it on himself to become a one-man booster for the Kyoto treaty. Nickels is pushing Seattle to spend money on making the city keep to the Kyoto targets and has convinced several other big American cities to spend their own money as well. Presidents Clinton and Bush both refused to send the Kyoto treaty to the Senate for ratification, knowing that a large, bipartisan majority would vote to kill it because of the deadening effect meeting the Kyoto targets would have on our economy.
Joining Mayor Nickels in his annoucement will be former Vice President Al Gore. Gore has a history of bringing cold weather with him when he goes to talk about global warming. Perhaps he'll bring it next Friday. I could use a March snow day.
Posted by Andy MacDonald at March 17, 2006 12:50 PM | Email ThisThat is not to say a number of AlGore's assertions can be and have been proven to be junk science. Republicans get a bad name by not paying attention to global climate change and its causes, and with the outbreak of spending in the current administration, they could use some better PR.
Posted by: KS on March 17, 2006 01:23 PM2. Reduce the number of perfectly good bildings being torn down that are replaced with "New and innovative" business space underneath cheap condos.
2a. 2 would contribute to 1 by reducing the free meals developers provide Mayor Jabba The Hut in turn trimming some lard off his blubbery butt decreasing his excessive consumption of oxygen and excessive gas emissions.
Posted by: Jabba Watcher on March 17, 2006 01:48 PMA VOLCANO! Yes Mt. St. Helens spews more greenhouse gasses per year than all the cars, trucks, and boats combined.
Posted by: dave on March 17, 2006 01:56 PMwww.libertymatters.org/newsservice/2006/faxback/2945_Kyoto.htm
Posted by: dan on March 17, 2006 02:01 PMThis objective and unbiased source failed to mention that the Senate voted 95-0 (Byrd-Hagel resolution) against entering into that agreement, DURING Pres. Clinton and VP Gore's term in office.
Per the PI, "The specifics of Nickels' plan are being kept quiet, but will likely focus on the city's No. 1 culprit for greenhouse gases: our cars, trucks and SUVs. If people could do just one thing to help reduce local emissions, the most important would be driving less or driving more efficient vehicles, experts say."
What? Drive less or drive more efficient vehicles? Why don't they say take the bus, train, the light rail or (monorail)? Isn't this one of the reasons we're pouring so much money into those systems?
If I remember correctly, I read an article that claimed that the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens put more tons of greenhouse gases (and other stuff) than humans have since the start of the industrial revolution.
On top of that, how is Seattle going to keep all the emissions from Bellevue, Lynnwood, Tacoma, etc. from coming into their city?
Prosperity has been shown to be the best method of environmental protection. Rich countries are clean countries. Greenhouse gas reduction measures that damage the economy, especially when they'll have minimal or no impact on the underlying problem, may negatively impact our abilities to cope with global warming as it occurs, or delay our implementation of technologies that would achieve real and significant reduction in greenhouse gases.
Posted by: Ex-WA on March 17, 2006 03:02 PMRaw data -
1 - we are (as has always been the case since the world started as a molten ball and from one ice age to the next)
2 - insignificantly (assuming that you mean US human activity). As was pointed out above, forest fires cause far more. Most of these fires are in third world countries.
3 - No - as most of the signers agree, given their actual (as opposed to verbal) commitment.
Posted by: Fred on March 17, 2006 03:02 PMI think getting rid of all those empty busses going around in circles all day waste far more fuel. Cut back all those wasting busses, trains etc. It uses far less fuel to just drive! :)
Posted by: Fred on March 17, 2006 03:13 PMDIRTY FUELS BURNED BY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES!
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1213432
"IS GROWTH bad for the environment? It is certainly fashionable in some quarters to argue that trade and capitalism are choking the planet to death. Yet it is also nonsense. As our survey of the environment this week explains, there is little evidence to back up such alarmism. On the contrary, there is reason to believe not only that growth can be compatible with greenery, but that it often bolsters it."
Why do we have the CAO in King County - King Ron Sims' land-grab? Because the idiots who run King County think that curtailing growth and development will help the environment.
As Ex-WA stated, 'Rich countries are clean countries.' Very true. And we do try to export our new technologies, though poor countries often can't afford them.
When most of China is still burning wood, but won't be subject to Kyoto Treaty restraints - what good is the treaty? When Mexico can burn dirty coal so we have acid rain in Corpus Christi, TX - and we have to follow the treaty but they don't - what good is the treaty?
The world is undergoing climate change. Greenhouse gases contribute to climate change. Humans contribute to greenhouse gases. But nobody has ever proven that humans contribute to climate change!
When the largest greenhouse gas producers in this state are Mt St Helens and forest fires, why shackle ourselves with the Kyoto Treaty? There's no proof it'll have more than 1% affect over 50 years!
I guess when you believe that President George Bush is responsible for Hurricane Katrina, it's just part of your mental makeup that you buy into the canard that human beings cause climate change.
Posted by: Larry on March 17, 2006 03:30 PMThese 2 KLOWNS alone have melting several Glaciers in their lifetimes. Plus Mayor FatA$$ must realize that his chronic flatulation due to his overeating is also a major factor in warming our climate.
The LEFTIST PINHEADS are known for only creating HOT RHETORIC. How does that help cool things down??
Self-absorbed followers of Lenin cannot expect to be taken seriously...can they??
And besides, I thought Mayor FatA$$ said his sole priority is the AWV Tunnel Funding?! Why is he creating this "sideshow"??? To pander to and rally the enviro's to support his tunnel pipedream??? Seems pretty obvious he is lacking the enviro's support on the tunnel.
How many Glaci
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on March 17, 2006 05:39 PMWhat these greenie weenies fail to understand is that the world has changed dramatically during its existence. Antartica used to be dessert. Greenland was more temperate. Europe had a "little ice age". There is a volcano in Africa that is spewing out more greenhouse emmissions in one day that the entire US does in one week (Nyiragongo in the Congo). This is not to say we shouldn't try to find cleaner alternatives; we just need to realize that technology takes time to develop.
Gore, Nickels, and other environmental tree huggers need to stop being hypocrites and give up the cars, private jets, and their computers for starters. Most people don't even know how electricity gets to their homes, let alone what it takes to make just the silicon chips for their computers. Sheesh!!!
Posted by: Burdabee on March 17, 2006 10:51 PM