March 2009 Archives

Fuel from food and already overstressed terrestrial ecosystems is immoral and unsustainable. The Obama administration must start by rejecting the proposal to increase the corn ethanol fuel blend limit from 10-15%.

TAKE ACTION! Please support US environmental and social justice groups calling upon the new Obama administration to halt financial and policy support for large scale biofuel production [search]. In particular, the Obama government's potential support for agrofuel [search] expansion -- making of transportation fuels from food -- runs counter to their aim to urgently address climate change and threatens to cause more hunger, human rights abuses, and degradation of soil and water.

The Obama administration promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to boost renewable energy. Unfortunately, a large part of their solution involves further boosting agrofuel production, both in the US and abroad. The new administration must heed the overwhelming evidence that agrofuels worsen climate change through further deforestation and the destruction of other ecosystems; drive food prices up, forcing more and more people worldwide into hunger and malnutrition; and decimate biodiversity and ecosystems.

It is human nature to resist tranformational change necessary to survive, and seek all types of half-assed reform measures to continue bad habits. Rising Tide North America has released an important new report entitled "Hoodwinked in the Hothouse: False Solutions to Climate Change". Sadly, much of the task of biocentric climate activists is seeking to persuade society to stop digging a deeper climate hole.

More technological alteration of global ecological systems -- such as those proposed with industrial agrofuels, biochar, clean coal and geo-engineering -- will not succeed in protecting the climate and biosphere. We need tranformational change such as powering down the industrial growth machine including an end to coal and ancient forest logging (sadly the report does not raise greenwashing of such logging by FSC, RAN, Greenpeace and others). Anything that does not fully protect and restore natural ecosystems will only worsen the global ecological and economic crises.

We are witnessing a plethora of intensifying climate warnings from usually staid, and cautious scientists [search] -- including at the recent emergency Copenhagen climate science meeting [ark | more\ark]. It emerges that climate change is occurring far more abruptly [ark] and in a run-away fashion than all but a few (including EI) have predicted. It is critical to realize though that despite the readily apparent urgency, climate like all science is still predictive.

It is highly likely we will witness mass migration from flooded coastal cities, huge wildfires consuming rainforests [ark] and nations, both terrible water scarcity [ark] and flooding. But it is not certain. And while these are all happening already to a lesser extent -- and global ecological collapse [search] is imminent -- it HAS NOT YET occurred.

We still continue to control our future, and there is always hope for transformation. So do not give up, it is not over until it is over, as long as we focus upon ecologically sufficient solutions. The point being made here is simple: while the eventual fate is clear, much remains to be told regarding just how bad a climate changed world will be, and whether there will be any human and other species' survival or not. The science is strong, but still imperfect predictions. There may be unknown negative feedbacks which positively slow warming. Or the science may otherwise be wrong in a manner that slows the coming ecological apocalypse.

Personally, it is my opinion that we should all give it our all to get a good -- strong, equitable and sufficient -- Copenhagen international climate agreement [ark] by mobilizing mass protest [ark], resisting false ecologically damaging solutions such as biofuels and biochar [ark], while laying the foundation for a stewardship revolution should governments fail humanity, all species and the Earth at Copenhagen.

We are beginning to see the Obama administration playing fast and loose with ecological science, letting political necessities overwhelm ecological concerns regarding corn based ethanol agrofuels [ark]. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is aggressively seeking to increase the amount of ethanol in gasoline from 10 to 15 percent. Corn ethanol [search] receives billions in subsidies despite conclusive science indicating its ecological destructiveness in terms of land, water and climate.

Corn-based ethanol fuel is ranked at the bottom of alternative energy sources "with respect to climate, air pollution, land use, wildlife damage and chemical waste." And it diverts food from people to cars. Obama and farm-belt Democrats are serving the political agendas of agribusiness, rather than honoring commitments to address climate change and bring science based change to Washington.

It is becoming apparent that global warming caused rising sea levels pose a far greater danger [ark] to the planet than previously estimated. The most recent scientific consensus in 2007 from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that sea-level rises [search] of between 20 and 60 centimetres would occur by 2100. However, this estimate contained very little input from melting ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland.

The latest revised science suggests climate change caused sea-level rise [search] could easily reach one to two meters by 2100. There is now a major risk that many coastal areas around the world will be inundated by the end of the century because Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are melting faster than previously estimated. And it will not stop then, as by 2200, a rise of 1.5 to 3.5m unless is estimated unless we stop the warming. Rising oceans will contaminate fresh water supplies, wipe out coastal farmland, and lead to increased storms with massive ocean surges.

As we witness the collapse of our shared atmosphere, three things are becoming apparent. One, climate changes are abrupt, way faster than anticipated. Secondly, the impact of the increased average global temperature pales in comparison to the "global wilding" of chaotic, unpredictable weather and sea rise patterns. And lastly and finally, humanity, the Earth and our sister species' survival depends upon a stewardship revolution.