Americans and Climate Change: Setting goals III

"Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap Between Science and Action" (PDF) is a report synthesizing the insights of 110 leading thinkers on how to educate and motivate the American public on the subject of global warming. Background on the report here. I'll be posting a series of excerpts (citations have been removed; see original report). If you'd like to be involved in implementing the report's recommendations, or learn more, visit the Yale Project on Climate Change website.

It's perhaps the most disheartening facet of the global warming discussion: Every target for reducing emissions that's taken seriously in political circles is woefully inadequate. How can we begin discussing targets commensurate with the task at hand? That's what gets chewed over in today's excerpt. (It's another long one -- sorry.)

Blood and Gore in the WSJ

Speaking of the Wall Street Journal, the co-founders of Generation Investment Management -- Al Gore and David Blood (Blood and Gore!) -- have a commentary therein neatly summarizing the case for integrating social, moral, and environmental concerns into the market. They even use the WSJ's favored dry, technical business-speak to do it. It begins thusly:

Readers talk back about Wal-Mart, vegetarian jokes, hope for the future, and more

  Re: The Writing on the Wal-Mart Dear Editor: First let me say, I love Grist and appreciate the work...

Milloy’s attempt to fight the zeitgeist falls on its face

You many have heard a while back about a new mutual fund -- the Free Enterprise Action Fund -- headed by Junk Science proprietor and legendary hack Steven Milloy. Milloy started the fund as a way to counter what he sees as the pernicious influence of so-called socially responsible investment (SRI) initiatives, which are (obviously!) nothing more than fronts for capitalism-hatin' lefty special-interest groups. The fund launches shareholder initiatives at places like Goldman Sachs and GE demanding that the companies stop saving energy and cutting back greenhouse-gas emissions. Seriously.

Anyhoo, we didn't cover this in Daily Grist or here, 'cause really, why give cranks the attention they so desperately seek?

However, Tim Lambert has a hilarious post up today reviewing the financial performance of the fund. It is, to say the least, less than stellar.

Sweet, sweet schadenfreude.

It’s a bloated, industry-friend piece of crony capitalism. And its breath stinks.

The House starts work on the monstrosity that is the Energy Bill today, and could vote on it as early as tomorrow.

It contains this hideous provision, a naked givaway to big industry that would "bypass Congress's normal spending process to funnel up to $2 billion over 10 years into research for recovering oil and gas from the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico."

And that's just the beginning. It's difficult to describe just how reprehensible this bill is -- an exquisite example of the crony capitalism and patronage network that have long since replaced responsible governance for the ruling party in this country.

Check out this Moving Ideas page on the bill, its specific provisions, and what you can do to stop it.

(And also check out this NYT editorial.)

Americans and Climate Change: Diffusion of responsibility I

"Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap Between Science and Action" (PDF) is a report synthesizing the insights of 110 leading thinkers on how to educate and motivate the American public on the subject of global warming. Background on the report here. I'll be posting a series of excerpts (citations have been removed; see original report). If you'd like to be involved in implementing the report's recommendations, or learn more, visit the Yale Project on Climate Change website.

This chapter is about the fact that no organization or institution bears responsibility for taking action on climate change. Everyone assumes someone else will do it. I've put the first section, which describes the problem, below. Tomorrow I'll post the proposed solutions.

Americans and Climate Change: Signs of action

"Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap Between Science and Action" (PDF) is a report synthesizing the insights of 110 leading thinkers on how to educate and motivate the American public on the subject of global warming. Background on the report here. I'll be posting a series of excerpts (citations have been removed; see original report). If you'd like to be involved in implementing the report's recommendations, or learn more, visit the Yale Project on Climate Change website.

Below the fold is the second half of the introduction to part one, which notes a few signs that change may be underway.

Americans and Climate Change: Incentives: Business and financial leaders

"Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap Between Science and Action" (PDF) is a report synthesizing the insights of 110 leading thinkers on how to educate and motivate the American public on the subject of global warming. Background on the report here. I'll be posting a series of excerpts (citations have been removed; see original report). If you'd like to be involved in implementing the report's recommendations, or learn more, visit the Yale Project on Climate Change website.

Why aren't people in the business world -- corporate leaders, financial analysts, etc. -- more hip to climate change? Find out below!

Look who’s changing the world now

Recently, contributor Deborah Schimberg had the chance to attend the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School in Oxford, England. She shares a few thoughts here.

Should we see our contaminated and warring world as cause for despair, or as a call to action? Social entrepreneurs choose the second, and big-time business is getting on board. And of the 16 award-winners recently announced by the Skoll Foundation -- which was created by former eBay president Jeff Skoll -- several had a green bent.

There was Jim Fruchterman of Benetech, who is working on several sector-changing businesses, among them a software program that will help conservation groups standardize data collection and management. And Mindy Lubber of Ceres, which helps shareholders pressure major corporations like Ford to adopt forward-looking policies. Another, Albina Ruiz of Ciudad Saludable, has worked to set up eco-enterprises in 20 cities in Peru. These folks are all addressing serious structural problems in the environmental sector with systematic, business-like methods.