to cut carbon pollution!
Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
...Cutting dangerous carbon pollution now is imperative to protect public health.
It's also — as cutting pollution has proved to be in the past — a good way to create jobs.
President Obama's new plan to combat climate change will at last set limits on carbon pollution from power plants, the biggest source of carbon emissions in the country. Energy efficiency will play a key role in the president's plan: it cuts energy waste and reduces carbon pollution; it lowers energy bills; and it also drives job growth. In fact, according to a new NRDC analysis, cutting U.S. power plant pollution 26 percent by 2020 could net 210,000 new jobs, mostly in the energy-efficiency sector.
References and thoughts beneath the curls.
For those who want to read about Obama's plan, here's a link to the fact sheet provided by the whitehouse.gov which gives the highlights of the plan and links to the full plan:
Cuts Carbon Pollution in America. In 2012, U.S. carbon pollution from the energy sector fell to the lowest level in two decades even as the economy continued to grow. To build on this progress, the Obama Administration is putting in place tough new rules to cut carbon pollution—just like we have for other toxins like mercury and arsenic —so we protect the health of our children and move our economy toward American-made clean energy sources that will create good jobs and lower home energy bills. For example, the plan:
•Directs EPA to work closely with states, industry and other stakeholder to establish carbon pollution standards for both new and existing power plants;
•Makes up to $8 billion in loan guarantee authority available for a wide array of advanced fossil energy and efficiency projects to support investments in innovative technologies;
•Directs DOI to permit enough renewables project—like wind and solar – on public lands by 2020 to power more than 6 million homes; designates the first-ever hydropower project for priority permitting; and sets a new goal to install 100 megawatts of renewables on federally assisted housing by 2020; while maintaining the commitment to deploy renewables on military installations;
•Expands the President’s Better Building Challenge, focusing on helping commercial, industrial, and multi-family buildings cut waste and become at least 20 percent more energy efficient by 2020;
•Sets a goal to reduce carbon pollution by at least 3 billion metric tons cumulatively by 2030 – more than half of the annual carbon pollution from the U.S. energy sector – through efficiency standards set over the course of the Administration for appliances and federal buildings;
•Commits to partnering with industry and stakeholders to develop fuel economy standards for heavy-duty vehicles to save families money at the pump and further reduce reliance on foreign oil and fuel consumption post-2018; and
•Leverages new opportunities to reduce pollution of highly-potent greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons; directs agencies to develop a comprehensive methane strategy; and commits to protect our forests and critical landscapes.
There are also sections addressing (1) Preparing the US for the impacts of climate change and (2) Working with other countries to address the issue.
(For those who object to my taking so much re fair use, I have always thought it doesn't apply to documents produced by the government, because (a) the government belongs to all of us and (b) the government wants this information promulgated.)
Alas, there will be a battle in some places. Here are some of the comments from the yahoos following the Peter Lehner article:
I have never read such a pile of unproven garbage as this article in all my life. What a bucket full of spoon-fed vomit from the liberal lying press and dirt people. Sounds like Al Gore and Peter Lehner ( NRDC ) LOL !!! have teamed up riding horse back in suits of armor with hordes of quivering low IQ morons as followers.
Another nail in the coffin for the poor and middle class, get ready for your power bill to double. A lot of people today conserve energy at home... now they'll get double the power bill for a reward for their conservation efforts.
Statement in article..."That pollution has been warming the climate, leading to an increase in deadly and destructive storms, droughts, floods and wildfires". Really !...The author FORGOT TO MENTION that its a THEORY...NOT A FACT...THERE IS NO PROOF of that statement...it is pure conjecture based on SOME evidence however ther is also EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY...This is not an article it is pure propaganda.
Peter Lehner needs to do some real research before writing articles. I'm surprised he didn't talk about the Unicorns prancing around in his backyard.
Did anybody else notice that every plan Obama comes up with is suppose to create new jobs, haven't seen any of those new jobs yet, in fact he hasn't even gotten the 2.5 million jobs he promised to create or he would be a one term president.
Tell a lie enough times and people will believe anything. CARBON DIOXIDE is NOT a POLLUTANT. If anyone should know this FACT; it is the very "scientists" that continue to with this global warming charade. The earth has been warming since the end of the ice age. Sunken cities around ancient shorelines are a testament to this FACT. Ever heard the stories of a Great Flood? What no one seems to mention is that CO2 will double from a small fraction to a small fraction of the atmosphere. .0314% to .065%. WOW. Big whoop.
To address some of these points:
The Earth is warmer, or why else would the North Pole be melting?
In what has now become an annual occurrence, the North Pole's ice has melted, turning the Earth's most northern point into a lake. Call it Lake North Pole. To be clear, the water surrounding the pole is not seawater seeping up from the ocean but melted icewater resting on top of a thinning layer of ice below the surface. ...
That lake started to form on July 13 during a month of abnormally warm weather — temperatures were 1-3 degrees Celsius higher than average in the Arctic Ocean this month — and has come to stretch a significant distance, though not out of the camera's range.
Obama,
as of January in 2013, had already supervised an economy that created a net 4.8 million jobs. So I guess that explains why he isn't a one term president!
It is amazing to me how much the Rs fight against things that ought to be no brainers: jobs, better weather and air, health care.
Fortunately Obama can do a lot of this without the assistance of Congress - which may explain why there are so many negative comments at yahoo - it's one of the few ways the Rs can fight back.
I know that Obama gave his climate change speech about a month ago, so in a sense this is not new news. But it is so important that I think we need to keep abreast of developments.
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Tired of politics? Need to escape? Try one of my Greek-mythology based novels, either the story of Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus or a trilogy about Niobe, or one of the first examples of civil disobedience, Antigone and Creon. Or, if you like mysteries and/or Jane Austen, treat yourself to
The Highbury Murders: A Mystery Set in the Village of Jane Austen’s Emma very positively reviewed at the Daily Kos Monday Murder Mystery blog.