CBC Recycles Anti-recycling Arguments

Anti-recyclers like the Cato Institute’s Grant Schaumberg, Katherine Doyle (1991), James DeLong of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (1994), Lynn Scarlett (1995) of the Reason Foundation, Jeff Bailey (1995) of the Wall Street Journal, Alan Caruba (2003-01), Daniel K. Benjamin (2003) of the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), John Tierney (1996), J. Winston Porter of the Waste Policy Center in Leesburg, Va., Libertarian Michael Mungerar (2007) and La Giorgia (2009-01) argue that “the market” should determine what if anything is recycled. Anti-recycler Tierney claimed that the well-publicized 1000s-of-miles journey of the Mobro 4000, a barge carrying Long Islanders’ trash, trying to unload its cargo, incited a garbage guilt epidemic among Americans. He like other anti-recyclers, also claimed that the garbage crisis that emerged from this image continues today under false pretenses: there is no shortage of environmentally safe landfill sites; curbside recycling rarely pays for itself in direct returns; recycling is not economically efficient. (Tierney 1996-06-30)

Recycling advocates Richard A. Denison and John F. Ruston (1996) of the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, DC argue that the think tanks quoted by the anti-recyclers such as The Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Cato Institute (both based in Washington DC), the Reason Foundation (based in Santa Monica, CA) and the Waste Policy Center (based in Leesburg, VA) that tend to promote market interests over the state, minimal government intervention in general and government programs of any kind. At least some of these think tanks accept funding from companies involved in “solid waste collection, landfilling and incineration, the manufacturing of products from virgin materials, and the production and sale of packaging and consumer products. Many of the corporations that fund the anti-recyclers have a direct economic stake in maintaining the waste management status quo and in minimizing consumers’ scrutiny of the environmental effects of products and packaging.” (Denison and Ruston 1996-07-18)

Timeline

1960s A political movement to save the environment emerged called the greening of America

1960s Martin Lapierre’s father founded Profix Environnement, an industrial collector of corrugated cardboard based in Laval, Quebec by collecting used boxes and selling them back to manufacturers for reprocessing. Martin, who inherited the business estimated that the cardboard the firm has recycled over the years has saved at least 750,000 trees (“(La Giorgia 2009-04-09).

1970-04-22 20 million people celebrated the first Earth Day in the United States.

1970-04-22 United Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

1972 the Club of Rome published Limits to Growth arguing that the American way of life was not sustainable.

1980 Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) in Bozeman, Montana was formed by a group of economists claiming dedication to improving environmental quality through markets and property rights through research and outreach education. Research is at the heart of PERC’s work followed by outreach and education. PERC claims to have pioneered the approach known as free market environmentalism (FME).

1987 A barge named the Mobro 4000 wandered thousands of miles trying to unload its cargo of Long Islanders’ trash, and its journey had a strange effect on America.” Anti-recycler Tierney claimed that the garbage crisis that emerged from this image continues today under false pretenses. He also claimed that there is no shortage of environmentally safe landfill sites. (Tierney 1996-06-30)

1987 America devised a national five-year plan for trash. The Environmental Protection Agency promulgated a “Waste Hierarchy” that ranked trash disposal options: recycling at the top, composting and waste-to-energy incinerators in the middle, landfills at the bottom. The E.P.A.’s five-year goal, to recycle 25 percent of municipal trash, was announced in a speech in early 1988 by J. Winston Porter, an assistant administrator of the agency. Even as Porter was setting the goal, he realized that it was presumptuous for a bureaucrat in Washington to tell everyone in America what to do with their trash. “After all the publicity about the barge,” Porter recalls, “I sat down with some engineers in my office to estimate how much municipal waste could be recycled. At that time, about 10 percent was being recycled. We looked at the components of waste, made a few quick calculations and figured that it was reasonable to reach a level of 25 percent within five years. It wasn’t a highly quantified thing. Some of the staff didn’t even want me to mention a figure. But I thought it would be good to set a target, as long as it was strictly voluntary and didn’t involve a lot of regulations.” Politicians across the country had bigger ideas. State and city officials enacted laws mandating recycling and setting arbitrary goals even higher than the E.P.A.’s. Most states set rigid quotas, typically requiring that at least 40 percent of trash be recycled, often even more-50 percent in New York and California, 60 percent in New Jersey, 70 percent in Rhode Island. Industries were pressured to set their own goals. Municipalities followed the Waste Hierarchy by building waste-to-energy incinerators and starting thousands of curbside recycling programs-all in the belief that it would be cheaper than landfilling. But the incinerators turned out to be disastrously expensive, and the recycling programs produced a glut of paper, glass and plastic that no one wanted to buy.” (Tierney 1996-06-30)

1989 J. Winston Porter left the Environmental Protection Agency and became president of a consulting firm, the Waste Policy Center in Leesburg, Va. By 1996 he was advising cities and states to abandon their unrealistic goals of recycling and he “ridiculed EPA policies he had helped implement saying, “People in New York and other places are tilting at recycling windmills. […] There aren’t many more materials in garbage that are worth recycling.” (Tierney 1996-06-30)

1991-09 anti-recyclers, Grant Schaumberg and Katherine Doyle, “Wasting Resources to Reduce Waste: Recycling in New Jersey,” Washington DC: Cato Institute,

1994-01-26 James DeLong, of the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington said, “The solution to the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) non-crisis is to recognize that trash disposal is a commodity, like coal or asparagus, and to treat it accordingly. The government could establish a few rules to avoid externalities and cost shifting, and then let the free market work. Operating within this framework, waste disposal companies, truckers, railroads, municipal officials, recyclers, waste generators and others could all perform their receptive functions. The result would be a complex amalgam of regional landfills, short- and long-haul transportation by truck and rail, incineration, recycling, and source reduction. In a few years people would wonder what all the shouting was about.”

1995 anti-recycler, Jeff Bailey, “Curbside Recycling Comforts the Soul, But Benefits are Scant,” Wall Street Journal,

1995-01-19 anti-recycler Lynn Scarlett (Reason Foundation) “A Consumer’s Guide to Environmental Myths and Realities,” Dallas, TX: National Center for Policy Analysis,

2002 “The continuing dialogue about recycling is well illustrated by the February 2002 response of the National Recycling Coalition (NRC)—one of many groups formed around this issue—to the white paper put out by the EPA. The NRC finds much to approve of in the EPA recommendations but returns to the fundamental issue of sustainability: can we go on producing and consuming and disposing of material goods at an ever-increasing rate?”

2003-09 Daniel K. Benjamin published the report entitled Recycling Rubbish: Eight Great Myths about Waste Disposal with Property and Environment Research Center.

2009-04-09 “From last year’s peak, prices [for recyclable material] have dropped 50 to 90 per cent,” said Mairi Welman of the Recycling Council of British Columbia (RCBC), a group of government and industry members with a stake in recycling ( “(La Giorgia 2009-04-09).

2009-01 Profix Environnement, an industrial collector of corrugated cardboard based in Laval, Quebec was struggling to survive as the price of cardboard dropped to zero (“(La Giorgia 2009-04-09).

2009 Quebec promised $4.8 million in loan guarantees to support its recycling industry, as well as legislation allowing recycling companies and municipalities to renegotiate contracts (“(La Giorgia 2009-04-09).

Webliography and Bibliography

DeLong, James V. 1994-01-26. “Wasting Away; Mismanaging Municipal Solid Waste.” Competitive Enterprise Institute Monograph.

Denison, Richard A.; Ruston, John F. 1996-07-18. “Anti-Recycling Myths Commentary on ‘Recycling is Garbage‘”.

La Giorgia, Giancarlo. 2009-04-09. “No cents in recycling as economy kills demand for material.” CBC News.

Munger, Michael. 2007-07-02. “Think Globally, Act Irrationally: Recycling.” July 2, 2007. Library of Economics and Liberty. Accessed 2009-04-13.

Tierney, John. 1996-06-30. “Recycling is Garbage.” New York Times Magazine.

Benjamin, Daniel K. 2003-09. Recycling Rubbish: Eight Great Myths about Waste Disposal PERC Reports: 21:3.

Caruba, Alan. 2003-01. “The Utter Waste of Recycling.”

Too Good to Throw Away: Recycling’s Proven Record

Recycling Means Business in California

Mapping Ice Melting

This post on mapping ice melting in Antarctica, which is part of an ongoing mapping memory project by a bricoleuse, is updated beyond its first publication date, April 6, 2009, as new satellite images become available from the NASA, European Space Agency, British Antarctic Survey, Arctic Council etc. The post includes a time line of melting ice, a customized Google Map and a webliography. Effort is made to use the semantic web to its fullest through attentive folksonomy.

The most recent update:

Geoscientist Jianli Chen (Chen et al 2009-11-22) used remote-sensing data from GRACE’s two satellites to track climate change and to quantify Antarctic ice elevations and ice motion and have concluded that the Eastern Antarctic ice sheet, the biggest ice sheet on earth, which was considered to be inviolate and stable, is actually experiencing significant ice loss, c. 57 gigatonnes a year since c. 2006. Eastern Antarctic ice sheet is home to 90% of Earth’s solid fresh water. West Antarctica is losing c. 132 gigatonnes of ice per year. GRACE allows for more accurate quantification of Antarctic ice-sheet mass balance and its contribution to global sea-level rise. A gigatonne is one billion metric tons, or more than 2.2 trillion pounds.

Mapping Ice Melt @ googlemap: http://snurl.com/h3l9b wordpress: http://snurl.com/h3leq http://snurl.com/h3m09 by a concerned bricoleuse using open data and the tools the semantic web and web 2.0 as part of a mapping communal memory series. This post will continue to be updated as new satellite images become available from the European Space Agency, British Antarctic Survey, Arctic Council etc. The post includes a time line of melting ice, a customized Google Map and a webliography. Effort is made to use the semantic web to its fullest through attentive folksonomy. The Wilkins Ice Shelf, a plate of floating ice on the western Antarctic Peninsula connecting to two islands, Charcot and Latady was very stable since the 1930s but began retreating in the 1990s. Since the late 1950s average temperatures have risen by half a degree Celsius a decade (ESA 2007) making the continent one of the fastest warming places on earth. Six of its ice shelves

University of Colorado’s National Snow and Ice Data Center, explained (2008-11-26),

“Ice thickness, its spatial extent, and the fraction of open water within the ice pack can vary rapidly and profoundly in response to weather and climate. Sea ice typically covers about 14 to 16 million square kilometers in late winter in the Arctic and 17 to 20 million square kilometers in the Antarctic Southern Ocean. On average, the seasonal decrease is much larger in the Antarctic, with only about three to four million square kilometers remaining at summer’s end, compared to approximately seven million square kilometers in the Arctic. Over the past several years, Arctic minima have been only four to six million square kilometers. [Maps of late winter and late summer ice cover in the the Arctic and Antarctica] … The interaction between sea ice loss and ice shelf retreat merits careful study because many ice shelves are fed by glaciers. When an ice shelf disintegrates, the glacier feeding it often accelerates. Because glacier acceleration introduces a new ice mass into the ocean, it can raise ocean level. So while sea ice melt does not directly lead to sea level rise, it could contribute to other processes that do, both in the Arctic and the Antarctic. Glacier acceleration has already been observed on the Antarctic Peninsula, although the accelerating glaciers in that region have so far had a negligible effect on ocean level NASA. 2009-04-21).”

Scientists commonly divide the sea ice pack around Antarctica into five sectors: the Weddell Sea, the Indian Ocean, the western Pacific Ocean, the Ross Sea, and the Bellingshausen/Amundsen seas. In some sectors, it is common for nearly all the sea ice to melt in the summer… [U]nlike the Arctic, where the downward trend is consistent in all sectors, in all months, and in all seasons, the Antarctic picture is more complex. Based on data from 1979-2006, the annual trend for four of the five individual sectors was a very small positive one, but only in the Ross Sea was the increase statistically significant (greater than the natural year-to-year variability). On the other hand, ice extent decreased in the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Sea sector during the same period NASA. 2009-04-21).”

The Wilkins Ice Shelf, a plate of floating ice on the western Antarctic Peninsula connecting to two islands, Charcot and Latady was very stable since the 1930s but began retreating in the 1990s. Since the late 1950s average temperatures have risen by half a degree Celsius a decade (ESA 2007) making the continent one of the fastest warming places on earth. Six of its ice shelves already completely collapsed: Prince Gustav Channel, Larsen Inlet, Larsen A, Larsen B, Wordie, Muller and the Jones Ice Shelf (BBC 2009-04-05).

The Wilkins Ice Shelf is monitored by the European Space Agency and the British Antarctic Survey. In 2008 a c. 400 km² broke off from the Wilkins Ice Shelf. The bridge between Charcot and Latady islands was narrowed down by May, 2008 to just 2.7 km.

See also

In early April 2009 the thin ice bridge, which served to protect thousands of kilometres of Wilkins Ice Shelf from further break-up, snapped.

See NASA April 7, 2009 images and description

2009-04-07 “The Obama administration on Monday called for enhanced protection of the Earth’s polar regions, proposing mandatory limits on Antarctic tourism and urging increased research in Antarctica and in the Arctic. Opening a conference of parties to the Antarctic Treaty, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the recent collapse of an Antarctic ice bridge was a stark reminder that the poles were gravely threatened by climate change and human activity. She said the treaty, which also bans military use of the continent, could be a model for improved cooperation and coordination in the Arctic, which is not governed by a similar pact (AP 2009-04-07).”

The Wilkins Ice Shelf may be on the brink of breaking away as an ice bridge between Charcot and Latady Islands has just ruptured.

Professor David Vaughan, a glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey said the breaking of the bridge had been anticipated for awhile and the collapse of the Wilkins Ice Shelf is likely to follow. “The fact that it’s retreating and now has lost connection with one of its islands is really a strong indication that the warming on the Antarctic is having an effect on yet another ice shelf.” more | (BBC 2009-04-05)

Timeline of melting ice in Antartica

1900 The ice shelves across northern Ellesmere Island were first observed and noted by western scientists (“discovered”). In 1900 the total area of these ice shelves was c. 10,000 sq km. (Luke Copeland University of Ottawa).

1956-1993 The Müller Ice Shelf was 80 sq km in 1956 and 49 sq km by 1993 (Ward 1995).

1970s Rothera Research Station was opened 67° 34’ S, 68 ° 08’ W, Rothera Point, Adelaide Island, Antartica.

1970s The Jones Ice Shelf was 25 sq km in 1947 and had disappeared by 2003. “In recent decades, several ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula have diminished in size as a result of climate warming. Using aerial photographic, satellite and survey data we document a similar retreat of Jones Ice Shelf, which was another small ice shelf on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. This ice shelf was roughly stable between 1947 and 1969, but in the early 1970s it began to retreat and had completely disappeared by early 2003. Jones Ice Shelf has two ice fronts only a few kilometres apart and its retreat provides a unique opportunity to examine how different ice fronts retreat when subjected to similar climate forcing. We mapped the retreat of both the east and west ice fronts of Jones Ice Shelf and found that, although individual episodes of retreat may be related to particularly warm summers, the overall progress of retreat of the two ice fronts has been rather different. This suggests that in this case the course of retreat is controlled by the geometry of the embayment and location of pinning points as well as climatic events (Fox and Vaughan 2005).”

1995 Larsen A broke off in 1995.

2002 A piece of ice that was sheered away from Larsen B roughly the size of Luxembourg represented the biggest for 10,000 years since the Ice Age. […] “In March 2002, scientists announced the Larsen B ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula had entered a phase of rapid break-up with more than 50 billion tons of ice spilling into the Weddell Sea to form thousands of massive icebergs. It had been known for many years that the ice shelf was thinning and in retreat but the speed of its final collapse astonished scientists. It took just 35 days for the Larsen B ice shelf to fall away completely after a Nasa satellite detected the first ruptures in the 1,255 square miles of ice at the end of January 2002.”(Connor 2005-08-04)

2002-03 Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment5 (GRACE) are twin satellites launched in March 2002, capable of making detailed measurements of Earth’s gravity field which will lead to discoveries about gravity and Earth’s natural systems. These discoveries could have far-reaching benefits to society and the world’s population. Grace is a partnership between NASA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR. JPL developed the twin Grace satellites. The University of Texas Center for Space Research in Austin has overall Grace mission responsibility.

2005-08-13 “On August 13, 2005, almost the entire Ayles Ice Shelf calved from the northern edge of Ellesmere Island. This reduced the remaining ice shelves there from 6 to 5, and continues a trend of dramatic loss of these ice shelves over the past century. Since 1900, approximately 90% of the Ellesmere Island ice shelves have calved and floated away. This is a one-way process as there is insufficient new ice formation to replace the ice that has been lost. The Ayles calving event was the largest in at least the last 25 years; a total of 87.1 sq km (33.6 sq miles) of ice was lost in this event, of which the largest piece was 66.4 sq km (25.6 sq. miles) in area. This piece is equivalent in size to approximately 11,000 football fields or a little larger than the City of Manhattan. Please note that some media stories have incorrectly stated the area as 41 sq. miles due to an improper conversion from sq. km” – (Ayles Ice Shelf – Dr. Luke Copland)

 2007 In 2007 Dr. Luke Copland, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Ottawa, noted that “there have been many breakups of ice shelves across northern Ellesmere Island over the last century so. When these ice shelves were first discovered in about 1900, they were a total of about 10,000 sq km in area. Today they have reduced in size by about 90%, to about 1000 sq km in area. The Ayles Ice Shelf loss was the largest breakup in at least 25 years, but it is part of the long-term trend of loss over the last century. The important point to note with all of these losses is that they are essentially permanent. There is no longer enough glacier ice flowing off the land to replace the ice that is being calved into the ocean. Hence these 3000+ year old shelves are now gone forever.” For more info on Dr Copland’s work visit

2007 Mauri Pelto, a glaciologist at Nichols College published an article on the calving of the Ayles Ice Shelf in the Arctic Circle.

2008-03-28 The European Space Agency captured these images of the break up of the Wilkins Ice Shelf:

ESA 2009-04-03 Wilkins Ice Shelf

 

2009-04-03

European Space Agency 2008-03-28 Wilkins Ice Shelf

Posted here

2009-04-28 European Space Agency satellite images of the shelf show that in the third week in April 2009 alone, 370 sq km of the northern ice front of the Wilkins Ice Shelf shattered into its first mass of icebergs released into the ocean,” Angelika Humbert, glaciologist at the University of Muenster in Germany, reported to Reuters that “about 700 sq km of ice – bigger than Singapore or Bahrain and almost the size of New York – has broken off the Wilkins this month and shattered into a mass of icebergs. [This is the most recent in a series of about 10 ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula to retreat in a trend linked by the UN Climate Panel to global warming. The new icebergs added to 330 sq kms of ice that broke up earlier this month with the shattering of an ice bridge apparently pinning the Wilkins in place between Charcot island and the Antarctic Peninsula. Nine other shelves – ice floating on the sea and linked to the coast – have receded or collapsed around the Antarctic peninsula in the past 50 years, often abruptly like the Larsen A in 1995 or the Larsen B in 2002. [Humbert had previously warned that once the ice bridge between Charcot and Latady islands off the Antarctic Peninsula collapsed (which happened earlier in April 2009) the Wilkins Ice Shelf could lose a total of 800 to 3,000 sq kms of area]. The Wilkins shelf has already shrunk by about a third from its original 16,000 sq kms when first spotted decades ago. [Because of the thickness of the ice on the Wilkens Ice Shelf it was estimated that it took at least hundreds of years to form.] (Reuters 2009-04-28) (Reuters 2009-04-28).”

2009-08-14  “Researchers at the University of Leeds, writing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, said the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is thinning at a rate of up to 16 metres a year and has lowered as much as 90 metres in the last decade. At its current rate of thinning, the glacier could disappear in a century. Previous predictions, based on the glacier’s rate of decline a decade ago, said the glacier would likely disappear in 600 years. The Pine Island Glacier is the largest glacier in West Antarctica, and at 175,000 square kilometres is roughly the size of the province of New Brunswick and the island of Newfoundland combined (CBC 2009-08-14).” “One of Antarctica’s greatest glaciers is thinning so quickly it could disappear within 100 years. This is 500 years sooner than previously estimated and jeopardises a volume of ice that could raise global sea levels by around 25cm. British Antarctic Survey fieldcamp on Pine Island Glacier Researchers reported just eight years ago that Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica could be lost within 600 years, but now they say satellite data covering a longer period of time means they are able to make a more accurate estimate. Research led by Professor Duncan Wingham of University College London suggests that the rate at which the glacier is thinning has accelerated and spread inland. Wingham and his team calculate that the central ‘trunk’ of the glacier lost four times as much ice in 2006 than it did in 1995: around 10.2 cubic kilometres compared with 2.6 cubic kilometres (Planet Earth 2009-08-14).”

2009-11-22 Geoscientist Jianli Chen (Chen et al 2009-11-22) used remote-sensing data from GRACE’s two satellites to track climate change and to quantify Antarctic ice elevations and ice motion and have concluded that the Eastern Antarctic ice sheet, the biggest ice sheet on earth, which was considered to be inviolate and stable, is actually experiencing significant ice loss, c. 57 gigatonnes a year since c. 2006. Eastern Antarctic ice sheet is home to 90% of Earth’s solid fresh water. West Antarctica is losing c. 132 gigatonnes of ice per year. GRACE allows for more accurate quantification of Antarctic ice-sheet mass balance and its contribution to global sea-level rise. A gigatonne is one billion metric tons, or more than 2.2 trillion pounds.

Key words: polar regions ; Antarctica ; Atmosphere cryosphere interaction ; Ayles Ice Shelf; Glacier retreat ; Dynamical climatology ; Space remote sensing ; Antarctic Peninsula ; warming ; climate modification ; imagery ; Landsat satellite ; Satellite observation ; aerial photography ; Aerial survey ; monitoring ; Glacier variation ; Ice shelf ; ice caps ; Polar Cap ; Antarctica, climate change, global sea level, global warming, ice flow, Larsen Ice Shelf, melting, South Pole

Colonial Cartography

http://wairarapa.co.nz/times-age/weekly/2002/ayles.html

This article has the best map of Arctic Ice shelves Ellesmere Island: http://www.ice.ec.gc.ca/content_contenu/2007coplandweir.pdf

 

 

wikipedia map antarctica

 

Webliography and Bibliography

AP. 2009. “U.S. Seeks Protection of Polar Areas.” New York Times.

BBC. 2009-04-05. “Ice bridge ruptures in Antarctic

Connor, Steve. 2005-08-04. “Ice shelf collapse was biggest for 10,000 years since Ice Age.” The London Independent.

European Space Agency. 2007-03-02. “Earth from Space: Larsen-B Ice Shelf on thin ice.”

European Space Agency. 2008-03-28. “Earth from Space: Further break-up of Antarctic ice shelf”

European Space Agency. 2008-06-13. “Even the Antarctic winter cannot protect Wilkins Ice Shelf.”

European Space Agency. 2009-04-03. “Collapse of the ice bridge supporting Wilkins Ice Shelf appears imminent.”

Fox, Adrian J.; Vaughan, David G.. 2005. “The retreat of Jones Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula.” Journal of Glaciology. 51 (175). 555-560

NASA. 2009-04-21. Sea Ice Ebbs and Flows.

NASA. 2009-04-21. “Sea Ice Ebbs and Flows: Antarctica.”

Planet Earth. 2009-08-14. Pine Island glacier may disappear within 100 years.”

Reuters. 2009-04-28. “New York-sized ice shelf collapses off Antarctica.” The Independent.

See also NASA webliography

 

References

Cavalieri, D. J., and C. L. Parkinson (2008). Antarctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979–2006, Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans. 113, C07004.

NASA. 2009-08-12. “Satellites Unlock Secret to Northern India’s Vanishing Water.” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-124

Chen, J. L.; Wilson, C. R.; Blankenship, D.; Tapley, B. D. 2009-11-22. “Accelerated Antarctic ice loss from satellite gravity measurements.” Nature Geoscience. pp. 859-862. deep internet, Cl@$ed

NASA. 2009-11-24. “The Big Thaw? NASA Satellites Detect Unexpected Ice Loss in East Antarctica.” http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/grace20091124.html

Comiso, J.C., Parkinson, C.L., Gersten, R., Stock, L. (2008). Accelerated decline in the Arctic sea ice cover. Geophysical Research Letters. 35, L01703.

de la Mare, W.K. (1997). Abrupt mid-twentieth-century decline in Antarctic sea-ice extent from whaling records. Nature. 389, 57-60.

Goosse, H., Lefebvre, W., de Montety, A., Crespin, E., and Orsi, A.H. (2008). Consistent past half-century trends in the atmosphere, the sea ice and the ocean at high southern latitudes. Climate Dynamics.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2007). Summary for Policymakers. In:Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden, and C.E. Hanson, Eds., Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 7-22.

Mahoney, A.R., Barry, R.G., Smolyanitsky, V., Fetterer, F. (2008). Observed sea ice extent in the Russian Arctic, 1933–2006. Journal of Geophysical Research. 113, C11005.

Meier, W.N., Stroeve, J., Fetterer, F. (2007). Whither Arctic sea ice? A clear signal of decline regionally, seasonally, and extending beyond the satellite record. Annals of Glaciology. 46(1), 428-434.
National Snow and Ice Data Center:

All About Sea Ice. Accessed March 6, 2009.

Arctic Sea Ice Down to Second-Lowest Extent; Likely Record-Low Volume. Accessed March 6, 2009.

Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis. Accessed March 6, 2009.

Frequently Asked Questions about Sea Ice. Accessed February 4, 2009.

State of the Cryosphere. Accessed 2009-02-04.

Overland, J.E., Spillane, M.C., Percival, D.B., Wang, M., Mofjeld, H.O. (2004). Seasonal and regional variation of Pan-Arctic surface air temperature over the instrumental record.  American Meteorological Society. 17(17), 3263-3282.

Parkinson, C.L. (1997). Earth from Above. University Science Books. Sausalito, California.

Parkinson, C.L. (2000). Recent trend reversals in arctic sea ice extents: possible connection to the north Atlantic oscillation. Polar Geography. 31(1-2), 3-14.

Parkinson, C.L., Cavalieri, D.J. (2008). Arctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979-2006. Journal of Geophysical Research. 113, C07003.

Raphael, M.N. (2007). The influence of atmospheric zonal wave three on Antarctic sea ice variability. Journal of Geophysical Research. 112, D12112.

Scambos, T.A., Bohlander, J.A., Shuman, C.A., Skvarca, P. (2004). Glacier acceleration and thinning after ice shelf collapse in the Larsen B embayment, Antarctica.Geophysical Research Letters. 31, L18402.

Schiermeier, Q. (2006). A sea change.  Nature. 439, 256-260.

Serreze, M.C., Holland, M.K., Stroeve, J. (2007). Perspectives on the Arctic’s shrinking sea-ice cover. Science. 315(5818), 1533-1536.

Steig, E.J., Schneider, D.P., Rutherford, S.D., Mann, M.E., Comiso, J.C., Shindell, D.T. (2009). Warming of the Antarctic ice-sheet surface since the 1957 International Geophysical Year. Nature. 457, 459-463.

Yuan, X. (2004). ENSO-related impacts on Antarctic sea ice: a synthesis of phenomenon and mechanisms. Antarctic Science. 16(4), 415-425.

Lindsey, R. 2008-12-04.New Cracks in the Wilkins Ice Shelf. Earth Observatory. Accessed 2009-08-12.

Riebeek, H. 2009-04-08. Wilkins Ice Bridge Collapse. Earth Observatory. Accessed 2009-08-12.

Scott, M. 2008-03-26. Disintegration: Antarctic Warming Claims Another Ice Shelf. Earth Observatory. Accessed 2009-08-12.

State of the Cryosphere. 2008-11-14.Ice Shelves. National Snow and Ice Data Center. Accessed August 12, 2009.

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the Goddard Level 1 and Atmospheric Archive and Distribution System (LAADS). Caption by Michon Scott based on image interpretation by Ted Scambos, National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Lindsey, R. (2008, December 4). New Cracks in the Wilkins Ice Shelf. Earth Observatory. Accessed August 12, 2009.

Riebeek, H. (2009, April 8). Wilkins Ice Bridge Collapse. Earth Observatory. Accessed August 12, 2009.

Scott, M. (2008,March 26). Disintegration: Antarctic Warming Claims Another Ice Shelf. Earth Observatory. Accessed August 12, 2009.

State of the Cryosphere. (2008, November 14). Ice Shelves. National Snow and Ice Data Center. Accessed August 12, 2009.

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the Goddard Level 1 and Atmospheric Archive and Distribution System (LAADS). Caption by Michon Scott based on image interpretation by Ted Scambos, National Snow and Ice Data Center

Aflicktion: The Wreck of Hope

Aflicktion: The Wreck of Hope

Originally uploaded by ocean.flynn.

Flynn-Burhoe, Maureen. 2007. “Nanuq of the North II: Animal Rights vs Human Rights.” Speechless. Uploaded January 3, 2007.

The Bush administration took advantage of the way in which all eyes turn towards Santa’s North Pole, where big-eyed talking polar bears, reindeer and seals live in harmony, to announce that they would save these creatures from Nanook of the North. See story.
For a divergent point of view read Nunatsiak News article.

Nanook (nanuq Inuktitut for polar bear) was the name of the Eskimo hunter captured on film in the first documentary ever produced, Robert Flaherty’s (1922) Nanook of the North , — still shown in film studies survey courses. Nanook the Stone Age-20the century hunter became an international legend as a lively, humourous and skillful hunter of polar bears, seals and white fox who tried to bite into the vinyl record Flaherty had brought with him. (The real “Nanook” died of tuberculosis (Stern 2004:23) as did countless Inuit from small communities ravaged by one of the worst epidemic’s of tuberculosis on the planet.)

On August 13, 1942 in Walt Disney studios’ canonical animated film Bambi it was revealed that many animals with cute eyes could actually talk and therefore shared human values. Nanook and his kind became the arch enemy of three generations of urban North Americans and Europeans. Hunters were bad. Cute-eyed animals that could talk were good. Today many animals’ lives have been saved from these allegedly cruel hunters by the billion dollar cute-eyed-talking-animals-industry.

The White House has once again come to the rescue of these vulnerable at-risk animals. (There was an entire West Wing episode in which a gift of moose meat was rejected by all staff since it came from a big-eyed-talking-animal. See Ejesiak and Flynn-Burhoe (2005) for more on how the urban debates pitting animal rights against human rights impacted on the Inuit.) Who would ever have suspected that the Bush administration cared so much about the environment that they would urge an end to the polar bear hunt, already a rare phenomenon to many Inuit since their own quotas protected them?

When I lived in the north the danger for polar bears did not reside in the hearts of hunters. Nanuq the polar bear who could not talk was starving. He hung out around hamlets like Churchill, Baker Lake or Iqaluit, looking for garbage since this natural habitat was unpredictable as the climate changed. Some people even insisted that there was no danger from the polar bear who had wandered into town since he was ’skinny.’ That did not reassure me! I would have preferred to know that he was fat, fluffy and well-fed. Polar bears die from exhaustion trying to swim along their regular hunting routes as ice floes they used to be able to depend on melted into thin air literally. They die, not because there are not enough seals but because they need platform ice in the right seasons. That platform ice is disappearing. They die with ugly massive tumours in them developed from eating char, seals and other Arctic prey whose bodies are riddled with southern toxins that have invaded the pristine, vulnerable northern ecosystem. Nanuq is dying a slow painful death. Nanuq is drowning. Although he doesn’t sing he is a canary for us all.

Climate change and southern industrial toxins affect the fragile ecosystem of the Arctic first. The Inuit claimed in 2003,“Global warming is killing us too, say Inuit .”This is why Sheila Watt-Cloutier laid a law suit against the administration of the United States of America. Now the handful of Job-like Inuit who managed to survive the seal hunt fiasco of the 1980s and are still able hunt polar bear, will have yet another barrier put between them and the ecosystem they managed and protected for millennia. When I see Baroque art and read of the Enlightenment, I think Hudson’s Bay and the whalers in the north. It wasn’t the Inuit who caused the mighty leviathan to become endangered. Just how enlightened are we, the great grandchildren of the settlers today? Who is taking care of our Other grandparents?

Since the first wave of Inuit activists flooded the Canadian research landscape fueled by their frustrations with academic Fawlty Towers they morphed intergenerational keen observation of details, habits of memory, oral traditions and determination with astute use of artefacts and archives to produce focused and forceful research. When Sheila Watt-Cloutier representing the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) was acknowledged with two awards in one year for work done to protect the environment, I wondered how many cheered her on.

I don’t cheer so much anymore. I am too overwhelmed, too hopeless to speak. I myself feel toxic, perhaps another pollutant from the south — my name is despair. I don’t want to dampen the enthusiasm of those activists who still have courage to continue. For myself, I feel like the last light of the whale-oil-lit kudlik is Flicktering and there is a blizzard outside.

Footnotes:

From wikipedia entry Sheila Watt-Cloutier

In 2002, Watt-Cloutier was elected[1][4] International Chair of ICC, a position she would hold until 2006[1]. Most recently, her work has emphasized the human face of the impacts of global climate change in the Arctic. In addition to maintaining an active speaking and media outreach schedule, she has launched the world’s first international legal action on climate change. On December 7, 2005, based on the findings of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, which projects that Inuit hunting culture may not survive the loss of sea ice and other changes projected over the coming decades, she filed a petition, along with 62 Inuit Hunters and Elders from communities across Canada and Alaska, to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging that unchecked emissions of greenhouse gases from the United States have violated Inuit cultural and environmental human rights as guaranteed by the 1948 American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man.[5]

2. See also David Ewing Duncan’s “Bush’s Polar-Bear Problem” Technology Review: The Authority on the Future of Technology. From MIT. Information on Emerging Technologies. March 09, 2007. Duncan claims “The administration tells scientists attending international meetings not to discuss polar bears, climate change, or sea ice.”

Note:

See We Feel Fine for innovative use of this image in an upcoming publication.

Digitage elements:

Caspar David Friedrich’s (1824) The Sea of Ice
Tujjaat Resolution Island, abandoned, DEW line station DINA Northern Contaminated Sites Program (CSP) web site
My photo of ice floes in Charlottetown harbour, March 2000
A section of my acrylic painting entitled Nukara (2000)

Selected Bibliography

Eilperin, Juliet. (2006). ““U.S. Wants Polar Bears Listed as Threatened.” Washington Post Staff Writer. Wednesday, December 27, 2006; Page A01

Fekete, Jason. 2008. “Nunavut opposes anti-polar bear hunt movement in U.S.” Calgary Herald. May 29, 2008

Gertz, Emily. 2005. The Snow Must Go On. Inuit fight climate change with human-rights claim against U.S. Grist: Environmental News and Commentary. 26 Jul 2005.

The Guardian. 2003. ““Inuit to launch human rights case against the Bush Administration.”

Stern, Pamela R. 2004. Historical Dictionary of the Inuit. Lanham, MD:Scarecrow Press.

DEW line contaminated sites in Nunavut.

www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1104241,00….

www.grist.org/news/maindish/2005/07/26/gertz-inuit/index….

This will be updated from EndNote. If you require a specific reference please leave a comment on this page.

Creative Commons Canadian Copyright 2.5 BY-NC-SA.

Counting Canada: Economic, Innovation, Environment, Education, Health and Society Indicators

“Canada’s social safety net results in lower rates of poverty and income inequality along with higher rates of self-sufficiency of vulnerable populations than in the United States. But many Canadians would be surprised to find out that the U.S. has a lower burglary rate, a lower suicide rate, and greater gender equity than Canada […] Canada’s relatively poor record on child poverty, income inequality, and assault [remain] shocking […] Particularly troubling is its ranking on child poverty. In Canada, according to OECD statistics, one child in seven lives in poverty. Canada also still has an unacceptably high rate of poverty among its working-age population. According to statistics published by the OECD, just over 10 per cent of its working-age population is below the poverty line. This is double the rate of Denmark, the best-performing country on this indicator. Canada’s crime record is also disturbing—with 17 times the rate of assaults as the best-ranked country, 7 times the rate of burglaries, and 3 times the rate of homicides. Crime takes its toll on trust—both within the community and within public institutions. This picture of crime is not what Canadians think of when they think of their society. […] Canada ranks high on the indicator measuring acceptance of diversity […] Canada’s past achievements, such as reducing poverty among its elderly, show that, given the political will, Canada could successfully address other social challenges to sustain future quality of life (Conference Board of Canada Society Overview 2008 ).”

The Conference Board of Canada (2008 ) compared economic, innovation, environment, education, health and society performances of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States which are considered to be Canada’s international peers. Canada’s standard of living ranking dropped from 4th spot in 1990 to 9th in 2008. In terms of Education and Skills, over 40% of adult Canadians lack literacy skills required for everyday life and work in modern society. In terms of innovation Canada scored D since the 1980s and has failed to produce any top global brands.

The full report for 2008 will not be available until September. I am curious to see how data specifically related to Canada’s growing aboriginal community with its unique social histories and current dilemmas will be analysed in this report. When we examine the weakest points in the report, it is obvious that the vulnerabilities faced by Canada’s most at-risk group (aboriginal women and children) affect our international ranking. It is also useful to consider the location of remote aboriginal communities in terms of the most volatile environmental debates in Canada.

Data for this annual report comes from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (c.80%), the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy. The report measures quality of life based on this definition:

“The Conference Board defines a high and sustainable quality of life for all Canadians as being achieved if Canada records high and sustainable performances in six categories: Economy, Innovation, Environment, Education and Skills, Health and Society (B 10/17). The word “sustainable” [1] is a critical qualifier. It is not enough for Canada to boost economic growth if it is done at the expense of the environment or social cohesion. For example, to take advantage of high commodity prices by mining and exporting all our natural resources may make the country rich in the short term, but this wealth will not be sustainable in the long or even medium term. The Conference Board has consistently argued that economic growth and sustainability of the physical environment need to be integrated into a single concept of sustainable national prosperity—what we call here a “high and sustainable quality of life for all Canadians.”

..

“Having a high quality of life means living in communities that are free from fear of social unrest and violence, communities that accept racial and cultural diversity, and those that foster social networks. A country that provides a high quality of life also minimizes the extremes of inequality between its poorest and richest citizens, while reducing the social tensions and conflicts that result from these gaps. Performance in the Society category is assessed using 17 indicators across three dimensions: self-sufficiency, equity, and social cohesion. Self-sufficiency indicators measure the autonomy and active participation of individuals within society, including its most vulnerable citizens, such as persons with disabilities and youth. Equity indicators measure equity of access, opportunities, and outcomes. Social cohesion indicators measure the extent to which citizens participate in societal activities, the level of crime in society, and the acceptance of diversity [. . .] Canada’s social safety net results in lower rates of poverty and income inequality along with higher rates of self-sufficiency of vulnerable populations than in the United States. But many Canadians would be surprised to find out that the U.S. has a lower burglary rate, a lower suicide rate, and greater gender equity than Canada […] Canada’s relatively poor record on child poverty, income inequality, and assault [remain] shocking […] Particularly troubling is its ranking on child poverty. In Canada, according to OECD statistics, one child in seven lives in poverty. Canada also still has an unacceptably high rate of poverty among its working-age population. According to statistics published by the OECD, just over 10 per cent of its working-age population is below the poverty line. This is double the rate of Denmark, the best-performing country on this indicator. Canada’s crime record is also disturbing—with 17 times the rate of assaults as the best-ranked country, 7 times the rate of burglaries, and 3 times the rate of homicides. Crime takes its toll on trust—both within the community and within public institutions. This picture of crime is not what Canadians think of when they think of their society. […] Canada ranks high on the indicator measuring acceptance of diversity […] Canada’s past achievements, such as reducing poverty among its elderly, show that, given the political will, Canada could successfully address other social challenges to sustain future quality of life (Conference Board of Canada Society Overview 2008).”

Footnotes

1. “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland 1987:43).”

Webliography and Bibliography

Brundtland, Gro Harlem. 1987. Our Common Future: World Commission on Environment and Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Conference Board of Canada. 2008.

Studies: CO2 Must Cease Altogether

Using advanced computer models to factor in deep-sea warming and other aspects of the carbon cycle that naturally creates and removes CO2, scientists, from countries including the United States, Canada and Germany, claim: We must bring carbon emissions down to near zero to keep temperatures from rising further (Elperin 2008).

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The debate surrounding climate change reveals the myriad of methods available for propaganda production. After watching the DVD entitled The Great Global Warming Swindle produced in response to Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth, I wanted to read more on critical responses to both.

Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation hosted Larry Lohman’s March 8, 2008 lecture to the Climate Justice Chicago Coalition entitled A Critical Conversation on Carbon Trading and produced by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV) in which he discussed how carbon trading creates transferable rights to dump carbon, slows the social and technological change, promotes socially and ecologically destructive practices and is ineffective and unjust. It was part of a speaking tour in the US.

A Selected Timeline of Critical Events

1990 Cap and trade was designed and tested in the United States, as a program within the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. The Economist magazine claimed it was “probably the greatest green success story of the past decade.” (July 6, 2002). Lohman claimed the concept of carbon trade distorted the goals of Kyoto Protocol.

Webliography and Bibliography

Durkin, Martin. The Great Global Warming Swindle.

Gore, Al. Inconvenient Truth.

Eilperin, Juliet. 2008. “Studies: CO2 output must cease altogether: Research points to years of warming even with ambitious emission cuts.” The Washington Post. March 10.

Lohman, Larry. Development Dialogue no.48 “Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation on Climate Change, Privatisation and Power”

Lohman, Larry. 2008. A Critical Conversation on Carbon Trading. Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).

Antarctic Wilkens ice sheet Wilkens breakup sooner than expected

Polar Bears Stranded on Thin Ice in the great debate: Energy, Environment and Economy

On Feb. 6 — three days before FWS’s new deadline — the Minerals Management Service (MMS), also part of the Interior Department, plans to lease 30 million acres for oil and gas drilling in the Chukchi Sea bordering Alaska, where one-fifth of the world’s remaining polar bears live. The Market, the State and Civil Society are again focusing on big-eyed talking animals to capture global attention.

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ocean.flynn @ Flickr.

Should banks avoid investing in carbon-intensive projects?

Ceres is composed of and works with investors ($4 trillion) and environmental groups to address sustainability challenges. In their report Corporate Governance and Climate Change (2008 ) they argue that the banking sector needs to become aligned with GHG reductions.

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NRTEE calls GC to an economy-wide GHG emission price signal

The report by the Canadian National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) entitled “Getting to 2050: Canada’s Transition to a Low-Emission Future: Advice for Long-Term reductions of Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollutants” claims that Canada as one of the wealthiest countries in the world is better positioned to bear the costs and risks of GHG and air pollutant emission reduction policies (NRTEE 2008:4-5 ).” One of the five enabling conditions recommended by the NRTEE is an “economy-wide emission price signal.”

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In 2006 the Government of Canada asked the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) to examine issues of national long-term climate change and air pollution policies. Specifically, the NRTEE was to provide advice on how Canada could significantly reduce its GHG and air pollutant emissions by 2050.” The result is a NRTEE report entitled “Getting to 2050: Canada’s Transition to a Low-Emission Future” which recommended five enabling conditions that should be reflected in Canada’s climate change policy framework: “Canada will have to work in concert with the world; Policy certainty – beyond the short term – is central; An economy-wide emission price signal, implemented with complementary measures, is the core element of a policy framework; Technology deployment will be imperative; An integrated approach to climate change and air pollution should be pursued. Substantial benefits can result from a policy framework in which climate change and clean air measures are designed and implemented concurrently, as many sources of GHGs also produce air pollutants.”

“Canada, as a northern nation with a long coastline and continent-sized landmass, will be among the most impacted countries in the world and Canada’s population will continue to grow during the period reviewed in our analysis, a fact not universal to the Western industrialized economies; and the fact that Canada will likely continue to be a net energy exporter during the period reviewed in our analysis. The latter two points imply that Canada’s emissions will continue to grow at levels that are likely higher than other industrialized nations, and so abatement effort will work from a higher base. However, a final national circumstance that Canada is fortunate to have should also be considered – that is the fact that we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and are therefore better positioned to bear the costs and risks of GHG and air pollutant emission reduction policies (NRTEE 2008:4-5 ).”

NRTEE Members 2007-8: Glen Murray, Toronto, Ontario (Chair); David Kerr, Toronto, Ontario (Vice-Chair); Robert Page, TransAlta Professor of Environmental, Management & Sustainability, Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta (Vice-Chair); Janet L.R. Benjamin, North Vancouver, British Columbia; Pauline Browes Toronto, Ontario; Angus Bruneau, Chairman, Board of Directors, Fortis Inc., St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador; David Chernushenko, President, Green & Gold Inc., Ottawa, Ontario; Francine Dorion, Vice-President of Environment and Technology, Abitibi-Consolidated, Quebec; Richard Drouin, Counsel at McCarthy Tétrault, Montréal, Quebec; Timothy R. Haig, President and CEO, BIOX Corporation, Oakville, Ontario; Christopher Hilkene, President, Clean Water Foundation, Toronto, Ontario; Mark Jaccard, Professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia; Stephen Kakfwi, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories; Ken McKinnon, Chair, Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board, Whitehorse, Yukon; Kerry Morash, Clarica Advisor, Liverpool, Nova Scotia; Richard Prokopanko, Director, Corporate Affairs for B.C., Alcan Inc., Vancouver, British Columbia; Wishart Robson, Climate Change Advisor, Nexen Inc., Calgary, Alberta; Robert Slater, Adjunct Professor, Environmental Policy, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario; David McLaughlin, NRTEE President & CEO.

Folksonomy: Canada:greenhouse gas mitigation, Canada:GHG, Canada:carbon dioxide mitigation, Canada:air pollution, Canada:environmental policy, global warming:prevention,

Terms

GHG greenhouse gases
Timeline

1988 “The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) was created by the federal government in October 1988.

1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. New York: United Nations, 1992 http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf.

1993-05 The independent role and mandate of the The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) were enshrined in the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy Act, which was passed by the House of Commons in May 1993. Members are appointed by Governor in Council and includedistinguished leaders in business and labour, universities, environmental organizations, Aboriginal communities and municipalities (NRTEE 2008:4-5 ).”

2006 In the fall the Government of Canada asked the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) to look at the issues of national long-term climate change and air pollution policies. Specifically, the NRTEE was asked to provide advice on how Canada could significantly reduce its GHG and air pollutant emissions by 2050.”

2007-04-26 The Government of Canada released its the Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollution in which it set out a plan to regulate both greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants from industrial emitters. The Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollution will impose mandatory targets on industry to achieve a goal of an absolute reduction of 150 megatonnes in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020; impose targets on industry so that air pollution from industry is cut in half by 2015; regulate the fuel efficiency of cars and light duty trucks, beginning with the 2011 model year; strengthen energy efficiency standards for a number of energy-using products, including light bulbs. http://www.ecoaction.gc.ca/turning-virage/index-eng.cfm 

2007 Working Group III contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report entitled Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change” was prepared for The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report stated that global warming “is unlikely to be entirely natural in origin” and “the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence of the global climate.” 

2008-01 The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) made their report entitled “Getting to 2050: Canada’s Transition to a Low-Emission Future” available to the public. The NRTEE recommended five enabling conditions that should be reflected in Canada’s climate change policy framework: “Canada will have to work in concert with the world; Policy certainty – beyond the short term – is central; An economy-wide emission price signal, implemented with complementary measures, is the core element of a policy framework; Technology deployment will be imperative; An integrated approach to climate change and air pollution should be pursued. Substantial benefits can result from a policy framework in which climate change and clean air measures are designed and implemented concurrently, as many sources of GHGs also produce air pollutants.”

Webliography and Bibliography

NRTEE (National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy). 2007. “Getting to 2050: Canada’s Transition to a Low-Emission Future: Advice for Long-Term reductions of Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollutants.” January. Ottawa, ON. http://www.nrtee-trnee.ca/eng/publications/getting-to-2050/Getting-to-2050-low-res-eng.pdf

Climate Crisis as Planetary Emergency

In accepting the Nobel Prize Al Gore urgently called for the mobilization of civilization in defense of our common future faced with a planetary emergency – the imminent and universal threat of a climate crisis. Instead of offering false assurances that this can be done without effort, change or cost, responsible leaders must set aside short-term political goals and mobilize citizens with an uncomfortable message that to face this challenge, there will be sacrifices. Our leaders must acknowledge that they are accountable before history and they must speak with moral courage to inspire entire peoples, global citizens of every class and condition, entrepreneurs and innovators from every part of the globe to work couragously for our mutual survival. He rejects the belief that some hold that God will intercede on behalf of humanity to save the planet inspite of the actions or inaction of the the human species. Instead, Gore predicts that as humans unite around this moral purpose, we will collectively unleash a transformative spiritual energy.

Folksonomy

Nobel Peace Prize, moral compass, purpose, God, serve, civilization, planetary emergency, CO₂

Webliography

Gore, Al. 2007. “A Precious and Painful Vision of the Future.” The Nation. December 10. Accessed December 10. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071224/gore

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