<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Emission reduction targets proposed by McCain are insufficient but squarely in the mainstream]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by hapa http://www.grist.org/article/mccains-targets/ Mon, 12 May 2008 05:47:17 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/mccains-targets/1 PLAN B! PLAN B!

PLAN B! PLAN B!

doesn't help with oil prices now, though. we have a distinct lack of slack and infrastructure.

economy's wrecked, climate's melting, oil's scarce, green's the way out.

]]> PLAN B! PLAN B!

PLAN B! PLAN B!

doesn't help with oil prices now, though. we have a distinct lack of slack and infrastructure.

economy's wrecked, climate's melting, oil's scarce, green's the way out.

]]> Comment #2 by caniscandida http://www.grist.org/article/mccains-targets/ Mon, 12 May 2008 06:26:42 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/mccains-targets/2 Just to call a spade a spade,

I would NEVER vote for a Republican, who ideologically identified himself as a Republican, in spite of all the pretty language he might speak regarding fossils, and butterflies, and whatever.

Self-identification as a Republican, from around the Gerald Ford presidency, is a sign of more or less grave moral deficiency.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

]]> Just to call a spade a spade,

I would NEVER vote for a Republican, who ideologically identified himself as a Republican, in spite of all the pretty language he might speak regarding fossils, and butterflies, and whatever.

Self-identification as a Republican, from around the Gerald Ford presidency, is a sign of more or less grave moral deficiency.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

]]> Comment #3 by sindark http://www.grist.org/article/mccains-targets/ Mon, 12 May 2008 06:31:20 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/mccains-targets/3 Starting point

Stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations at an acceptable level probably requires more aggressive action. That being said, this is not a terrible place from which to begin negotiations: both between presidential candidates in the United States and between the United States and other countries. If the US was willing to commit to those targets unilaterally (and do so with a credible plan for actually achieving them), it might become a lot easier to get countries like China and India to begin making a more substantial contribution to the mitigation effort.

In exchange, the United States could adopt the kind of targets (and supplemental actions, like aid in preventing tropical deforestation) that are actually required to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions at a level around 450ppm, thus keeping total global temperature change in the realm of two degrees Celsius.

a sibilant intake of breath

]]> Starting point

Stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations at an acceptable level probably requires more aggressive action. That being said, this is not a terrible place from which to begin negotiations: both between presidential candidates in the United States and between the United States and other countries. If the US was willing to commit to those targets unilaterally (and do so with a credible plan for actually achieving them), it might become a lot easier to get countries like China and India to begin making a more substantial contribution to the mitigation effort.

In exchange, the United States could adopt the kind of targets (and supplemental actions, like aid in preventing tropical deforestation) that are actually required to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions at a level around 450ppm, thus keeping total global temperature change in the realm of two degrees Celsius.

a sibilant intake of breath

]]> Comment #4 by JMG http://www.grist.org/article/mccains-targets/ Mon, 12 May 2008 23:23:34 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/mccains-targets/4 5% Solution gets 50% by 2022

Reductions of just 5% a year -- very attainable -- produce a 50% drop in emissions in 14 years.  In 2022 or 2023, if we're looking at a 50% reduction from present levels (much higher than 1990 baseline) then we'll be feeling pretty good - we'll have done much of the work needed, and the absolute amount we'll have to keep cutting will be much less than the cuts we have to make in the first few years.

The 5% Project

]]> 5% Solution gets 50% by 2022

Reductions of just 5% a year -- very attainable -- produce a 50% drop in emissions in 14 years.  In 2022 or 2023, if we're looking at a 50% reduction from present levels (much higher than 1990 baseline) then we'll be feeling pretty good - we'll have done much of the work needed, and the absolute amount we'll have to keep cutting will be much less than the cuts we have to make in the first few years.

The 5% Project

]]>