Climate scientist addresses climate change concerns
Fifty Sandpoint High School students had the chance recently to interact personally with internationally renowned climate scientist Dr. Steve Ghan.
The students competed for cash prizes for best research posters at The Big Carbon Fix event, which was attended by close to 300 people. Science teacher John Hastings said that the vast majority of his students are very concerned about climate change and want action. The winning posters will be displayed at the Little Panida in the near future.
While the students focused more on local solutions, Dr. Steve Ghan, Citizens Climate Lobby’s featured speaker, asserted that “there is a necessity for bipartisan legislation rather than a president’s order as the latter just won’t last”. He explained the bipartisan Energy Innovation and Dividend Act, which will be re-introduced in Congress again soon, is supported by economists and scientists, is revenue neutral, and is projected to reduce U.S. CO2 emissions by 40 percent within 12 years and by 90 percent by 2050.
Dr. Ghan, explained that, “while this will not be enough to prevent all climate change, it is a simple and effective solution that reins in the most important drivers of climate change.”
Dr. Ghan emphasized that “climate change is happening, we are causing it, it is serious, and we can stop it.” He subscribed a large part of resistance to climate action to the oil industry’s misinformation campaign, as “they have a lot of worth bound up in fossil fuel reserves. Oil companies are calling themselves energy companies now. They are seeing the writing on the wall and are solid investors in solar energy.” There are currently lawsuits under way to counter this misinformation campaign.
“We don’t need coal as it is not competitive with natural gas, solar and wind … If the social cost of natural gas would be applied it would not be competitive either. The cost of batteries is holding us back.”
While Canada has adopted a similar policy, they are still transporting fossil fuel via pipelines to the USA, because “it is driven by the USA market and natural gas still being competitive.” A gas tax is generally used for roads. “A general carbon fee on coal usage for electricity would not be appropriate for roads — a broader price on carbon is needed.”
He explained that “Ice ages are not driven by the changes of cycles of sun, but rather are triggered by the changes of earth’s orbit and amplified by changes in greenhouse gases … if there were no fossil fuels with resulting CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, we would actually be entering an ice age now. We are just going a little over board.”
In closing he responded to the concern of it being too late: “The economic and environmental damage is increasing as the climate warms…it is not a sudden cliff… if we give up it will get worse; the sooner we take action the better.”
Information: cclsandpoint.com
Dr. Gabrielle Duebendorfer is the founder of the Sandpoint Chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby and is very concerned about the health impacts of climate change.