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11.21.2008 - 12:07pm ET
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Connecting the Dots
Commentary by Francesca Rheannon of Corporate Watchdog Radio
(CSRwire) The cold weather finally came in this week. It's been unseasonably warm in
western Massachusetts, where I live. It just didn't feel natural with the
cloying warm wind blowing about heaps of yellowed leaves on the
ground-another local sign of the climate crisis.
But although the evidence of global warming's increasing impact can be
found everywhere in the news, the climate crisis is still only on the
margins of the radar screen of most Americans. In fact, it's getting
pushed even more to the side. The Pew Research Center reported earlier
this year that the number of Americans who believe the Earth is warming
has dropped.
One reason is that big media is still not connecting the dots. This week,
wildfires were raging in California. Governor Schwartzenegger said his
state's fire season has gone from a few months to all year round. What got
buried in the media is that he also put the blame on global warming.
Also this week, the U-N released greenhouse gas inventory data for the
past 16 years. The BBC reported it straightforwardly: it's headline read
"Emissions Up In Developed Nations". Compare that to the headline in the
New York Times, the US paper of record: "Pollution Has Leveled Off, But
The Figures Have Holes". Busy readers who just scan headlines might have
been reassured-for no good reason, as it turns out. The so-called
"leveling off" was from averaging out emissions declines during economic
downturns in the 1990's, but they've been rising sharply ever since. More
worrying, the biggest recent increase came from economies in transition.
Eastern European nations showed more than a 7% rise between 2000 and
2006.
Another reason for tuning out on the climate crisis is that Americans,
like the rest of the world, are focusing on the tanking economy. When
you've lost your job or the bulk of your retirement account, it’s hard
to think about anything else. But here again, the news media aren't
connecting the dots. The dominant view bandied about is that dealing with
the economic crisis trumps the climate crisis. The pundits are asking
rhetorically: can the Obama administration and Congress really fulfill on
promises for a sustainable energy economy? Can we afford to put a price on
carbon? The implication is "no"-and "no", too, for improving social
sustainability by supporting programs that help the poor, working families
and a struggling middle class.
And take how the media is reporting on the current troubles in the auto
industry-like, the public radio show Marketplace. Under the headline
"Obama meant it about C02", the piece, which appears on the Marketplace
website, opens with, "And now, more damage for U.S. auto makers' bottom
lines". The column concerns Obama's vow to overturn an EPA ruling
forbidding California and three other states to impose stricter greenhouse
gas emissions from passenger cars. Reporter Melissa Kaplan warns if Obama
acts on his stated intent, the move will increase "pressure on the auto
industry to develop efficient vehicles, which will cost billions and
restrict sales of currently-existing car models no longer compliant with
new standards."
But Pam Solo, founder of 40MPG.org and president of the nonprofit and
nonpartisan Civil Society Institute, writes in an op ed for the San
Francisco Chronicle that the way to save Detroit is to save it from
itself. Referring to the same Obama plan, she says a loan-guarantee
bailout to Detroit automakers should include requiring them to drop their
four-year-long legal assault against global warming laws in California. It
should also demand Detroit develop hybrids, clean diesels and other
fuel-efficient vehicles-vehicles the public might actually want to buy.
Confronting the economic crisis and the climate crisis isn't a zero sum
game. It's just the opposite-a win-win.
Worldwatch Institute Senior Researchers Michael Renner and Gary Gardner
have proposed that the G-20 Summiteers (who will reconvene in April after
having punted on dealing with the global economic meltdown last week)
enact a Global Green Deal. They've proposed five strategies to turn the
global economy around by going green: transitioning to a renewable energy
economy, launching an efficiency revolution, investing in green
infrastructure, cradle-to-cradle materials circulation, and a fairer
distribution of wealth within and across borders.
And Deutsche Asset Management has issued a report calling for the
establishment of a "reen" National Infrastructure Bank. It follows their
recent paper, "Investing in Climate Change 2009: Necessity and Opportunity
in Turbulent Times".
You can hear interviews with Michael Renner and with DAM's Climate Change
Investment Research Director Bruce Kahn on this week's Corporate Watchdog
Radio.
About Francesca Rheannon
Francesca Rheannon is co-host and co-producer of Corporate Watchdog
Radio.
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