World Leaders Have Opportunity in Copenhagen, Professor Says
A leading U.S. expert on climate change believes that the Copenhagen conference that opened this week represents a key, and possibly last, opportunity for the nations of the world to cooperate in ways to reduce carbon emissions, and thusl prevent an irreversible warming of the world's climate.
Speaking at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, William Moomaw, Ph.D., professor of international environmental policy at Tufts University, Medford, MA, said, "Climate change is an issue so important that we have to get it right." He explained that reducing emissions to an acceptable level within coming decades is possible if the U.S. uses an aggressive mix of rules, laws, building codes and economic incentives.
Too much emphasis has been placed on what individuals and businesses cannot do or ought not do, and not nearly enough on what Americans and others around the world can and should do - and how they can profit from such actions. Moomaw, who is also director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy at Tuffs University, added that the climate change debate has become so politicized that important scientific, technological and economic possibilities have been overshadowed.
"Even journalism covers climate change like a boxing match," Moomaw said.
The stakes in climate change are huge, Moomaw argued, and without direct and serious action soon, the world faces "runaway climate change" that can have devastating impact in a wide variety of areas: drought and famine in some areas, rising sea levels with flooding in others; global competition for mineral resources in the polar regions;
Moomaw's presentation included discussion of several models of the impact of increasing carbon emissions and their impact on global warming and other aspects of climate change. In each "moderate change" case, growth in emissions tips the balance in favor of a continued heating up of the planet. Only major changes within the next couple of decades can slow and reverse the process, the professor said.
"Technology is helping us a lot," Moomaw said during his Nov. 16 address, "but it is fundamentally a lifestyle, behavioral change" that is necessary. He pointed out that combined household carbon emissions in the U.S. alone are greater that the carbon emissions of any nation other than China.
Moomaw said he and his wife have built an environmentally sensitive house in Williamstown, in western Massachusetts, that has a minimal carbon footprint.
- Saint Anselm Crier staff reporting from the New Hampshire Institute of Politics
Speaking at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, William Moomaw, Ph.D., professor of international environmental policy at Tufts University, Medford, MA, said, "Climate change is an issue so important that we have to get it right." He explained that reducing emissions to an acceptable level within coming decades is possible if the U.S. uses an aggressive mix of rules, laws, building codes and economic incentives.
Too much emphasis has been placed on what individuals and businesses cannot do or ought not do, and not nearly enough on what Americans and others around the world can and should do - and how they can profit from such actions. Moomaw, who is also director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy at Tuffs University, added that the climate change debate has become so politicized that important scientific, technological and economic possibilities have been overshadowed.
"Even journalism covers climate change like a boxing match," Moomaw said.
The stakes in climate change are huge, Moomaw argued, and without direct and serious action soon, the world faces "runaway climate change" that can have devastating impact in a wide variety of areas: drought and famine in some areas, rising sea levels with flooding in others; global competition for mineral resources in the polar regions;
Moomaw's presentation included discussion of several models of the impact of increasing carbon emissions and their impact on global warming and other aspects of climate change. In each "moderate change" case, growth in emissions tips the balance in favor of a continued heating up of the planet. Only major changes within the next couple of decades can slow and reverse the process, the professor said.
"Technology is helping us a lot," Moomaw said during his Nov. 16 address, "but it is fundamentally a lifestyle, behavioral change" that is necessary. He pointed out that combined household carbon emissions in the U.S. alone are greater that the carbon emissions of any nation other than China.
Moomaw said he and his wife have built an environmentally sensitive house in Williamstown, in western Massachusetts, that has a minimal carbon footprint.
- Saint Anselm Crier staff reporting from the New Hampshire Institute of Politics
This article was published on 12/11/09 in the News section.
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