When Will the Light Bulb Turn On?

                                                       “Contrary to the conventional wisdom and the predictions of computer models, the Earth’s climate
                                                               has not warmed appreciable in the past two decades, and probably not since about 1940.”
-Fred Singer,
President of Science & Environmental Policy

          According to Ellen Goodman, an opinion columnist for The Boston Globe writes, “I would like to say we're at a point where global warming is impossible to deny. Let's just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers, though one denies the past and the other denies the present and future.”  Even with such appalling statistics people everywhere, including world-renowned scientists and so-called experts, deny such a catastrophe exists.  Global warming, often referred to as the greenhouse effect, is the “absorption of energy radiating from the Earth’s surface by carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere” (Wong).  The greenhouse effect is causing the temperature on Earth to rise, and thus will create numerous problems in decades to come.
          This supremely controversial issue continues to make headlines and heat Presidential debates.  United States Junior Senator of Illinois and Democratic Presidential Candidate, Barack Obama declares, “The issue of climate change is one that we ignore at our own peril. There may still be disputes about exactly how much we're contributing to the warming of the Earth's atmosphere and how much is of natural occurrence, but what we can be scientifically certain of is that our continued use of fossil fuels is pushing us to a point of no return” (Karpinski).  The past nine years have been among the twenty-five warmest years on record, and annual temperatures around the world are now around 1.0 F degrees warmer than a century ago (Wong).  This drastic rise in temperature is primarily due to human activity, particularly by transportation and energy production.
          While transportation is not the leading greenhouse gas producer it still contributes a substantial amount of emissions.  With almost 300 million cars in the United States alone, motor vehicles are still responsible for almost twenty-five percent of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  There are currently two factors that most extensively contribute to these emissions: the amount of carbon dioxide from fuel and the number of miles a particular vehicle travels (Greene).  In order to combat global warming, all three factors must have a solution.  This necessitates an increase of fuel efficiency, switching to renewable fuels, and less driving.  In order to increase fuel efficiency, people need to support the development and marketing of advanced vehicles such as battery electrics, hybrid electrics, and fuel cells (Clean Vehicles).  Switching to renewable fuels will become a necessity, and to encourage such a shift, government policies should provide incentives for research and progress towards more efficient and renewable fuels (Greene).  While reducing the distance a person drives sounds like a daunting and impossible task, there are many different transportation alternatives.  Not only do mass transit systems, bicycles, and pedestrian routes exist but they can become even more readily available (Clean Vehicles).
          Global climate change relates not only to transportation but to our insatiable hunger for energy which blankets the world.  According to Joseph Knox’s book, Global Climate Change and California, “The majority of greenhouse gas emissions are the result of energy production and use; at the same time, warming will affect energy patterns in California through physical increases in energy demand, physical changes in energy supply, and changes in both energy end-use patterns and supplies resulting from climate-change policies.”  In the late 1980s, the California Energy Commissions took it upon themselves to analyze the energy demand and supply impacts.  The result from such testing suggests that climate warming can increase the energy demand while reducing the energy supply (Knox).  There seems to be a growing political and social consensus that the world needs to act soon to minimize further commitment to future temperature increases.
          While it seems unlikely that a significantly warmer climate will be present for years, policy responses to global warming may cause more immediate impacts.  First, policymakers must recognize that resource and environmental issues will affect the world’s future in any event.  This does not necessarily mean that we must accept a lower standard of living.  “Today’s standard is now generally measured by the per capita value…these measures do not necessarily recognize the value of improved efficiency; nor do they recognize the myriad nonmarket factors that affect people’s lives” (Knox).  Research needs to occur and goals must be set to achieve long-term energy and economic sustainability.
          People must face the long-range global problems with a short-term frame of mind.  As Anne Frank states, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”  The things a person does today will mean big changes for tomorrow.  In America, what matters now is not environmental science, but political science.  This upcoming election hinges on a candidate’s plan for a changing climate.  When a solution is found and implemented, that is when the light bulb with finally turn on.

 

Works Cited

 “Clean Vehicles.” 10 August 2005. Union of Concerned Scientists. 10 December 2007 <http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/vehicles_health/cars-and-trucks-and-global-warming.html>.

Frank, Anne. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. New York: MacMillan Press, 1980

Goodman, Ellen. "The Boston Globe." 7 February 2007. No Change in Political Climate. 10 December 2007 <http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/02/09/no_change_in_political_climate/>.

Greene, David Lloyd. Transportation and Global Climate Change. Washington D.C.: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, 1993.

Karpinski, Gene. League of Conservation Voters. 10 December 2007 <http://www.presidentialprofiles2008.org/>.

Knox, Joseph. Global Climate Change and California. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1991.

Singer, Fred. Global Warming Information Center. 18 July 2000. 10 December 2007 <http://www.nationalcenter.org/KyotoSingerTestimony2000.html>.

Wong, Bryan. "Alarming Global Warming Statistics." 10 May 2007. Ezine Articles. 10 December 2007 <http://ezinearticles.com/?Alarming-Global-Warming-Statistics&id=560107>.