Why Standing Rock Is a Test for Obama—And All Climate Choices Ahead

[G_j]

http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/why-standing-rock-is-a-test-for-obama-and-all-climate-choices-ahead-20161006/

Paris agreements take effect November 4, and the climate change math shows we need a managed decline of fossil fuels in the U.S. That means no Dakota Access pipeline.

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Ten months ago, the United States told the world it was ready to do something about climate change. Enough talk. Time to act. And because of the nature of the crisis, the world’s governments are moving quickly (well, at least as measured by governments). On Wednesday, President Barack Obama announced the global agreement from the Paris talks will begin implementation on November 4 after being ratified by European nations.

“Today, the world meets the moment. And if we follow through on the commitments that this agreement embodies, history may well judge it as a turning point for our planet,” the president said.

The Paris agreement formally begins four days before the U.S. presidential election, in which Republican Donald Trump opposes that agreement as well as its science while Democrat Hillary Clinton strongly supports it.

“Now, the Paris Agreement alone will not solve the climate crisis. Even if we meet every target embodied in the agreement, we’ll only get to part of where we need to go,” the President said. But make no mistake, this agreement will help delay or avoid some of the worst consequences of climate change. It will help other nations ratchet down their dangerous carbon emissions over time and set bolder targets as technology advances, all under a strong system of transparency that allows each nation to evaluate the progress of all other nations. And by sending a signal that this is going to be our future—a clean energy future—it opens up the floodgates for businesses and scientists and engineers to unleash high-tech, low-carbon investment and innovation at a scale that we’ve never seen before. So this gives us the best possible shot to save the one planet we’ve got.”

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If the president, the government, the world really believe that the agreement will only get us part of where we need to go to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, then stopping the Dakota Access pipeline is essential.

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[BlancheSplanchnik]

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