Charles Pierce Esq:At This Point, If You Deny Climate Change...

[2naSalit]

My apologies if this has been posted earlier, looked and didn't see it anywhere. It's an interesting review of the COP21 agreement.

At This Point, If You Deny Climate Change, You Are a Traitor to Your Species
By Charles Pierce, Esquire
15 December 15

A landmark deal on the most important issue of our time—just in time for the Republican debate.


WORLD LEADERS INK PACT!"

Sorry, some sportswriting broke out there for a moment. We continue.

The deal was struck in a rare show of near-universal accord, as poor and wealthy nations from across the political and geographic spectrum expressed support for measures that require all to take steps to battle climate change. The agreement binds together pledges by individual nations to cut or limit emissions from fossil-fuel burning, within a framework of rules that provide for monitoring and verification as well as financial and technical assistance for developing countries. The overarching goal is to bring down pollution levels so that the rise in global temperatures is limited to no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial averages. Delegates added language that expressed an ambition to restrict the temperature increase even further, to 1.5 degrees C, if possible.

As Bill McKibben points out, this deal could have gone further than it does. But, as McKibben also points out, the very fact of the treaty itself is cause for celebration. At the very least, some people got together and talked the Earth and its people—and, perhaps, even their politicians, although I expect no miracles—off the ledge, for the moment, anyway. The representatives of the world's governments got together and agreed that the climate crisis is real and that is largely caused by human beings who burn fossil fuels. What that means is that ignorance is no longer an excuse. What that means is that, on the world stage, anyway, you can't duck your responsibility because you're "not a scientist." Hereafter, anyone who denies the basic science of climate change, or who stands athwart the attempts to resolve the crisis, is cast as a traitor to his species, and to all the others as well. If you don't think that's a big deal, then watch the way this treaty is discussed on Tuesday night at the next Republican presidential debate.

One question, of course, is that of urgency, and there McKibben departs from the celebration a little bit early. Despite the misgivings of environmentalists, the stated goals of the treaty are ambitious, and they brook no delay. McKibben likens it to the difference between running a marathon simply to finish and running a marathon competitively.

More at link http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/34057-at-this-point-if-you-deny-climate-change-you-are-a-traitor-to-your-species

[Basic LA]

1. Hope Charlie is feeling better.

Heard Charlie yesterday on his weekly call-in to the Stephanie Miller show & he has one serious head cold. He could hardly speak! BTW, the Stephanie Miller show is a million times funnier now without what's his name.

[pnwmom]

2. I didn't watch the debate. Did the moderator even bring up the topic?

I haven't read anything about this being discussed.

[GliderGuider]

3. Not a single syllable, as far as I know. nt

[2naSalit]

4. Nope the debate was all about war,

war, kill was a big word often repeated as well as war, carpet bombing and kill some more. Then There was mention of net neutrality and big brotherism - which was a popular subtopic and then war, fear and kill, kill, kill and WW111.

It was an exercise in illustrating just how clueless and unAmerican these POSs actually are and just how screwn we'll be if any one of them ever gets elected to any office... including those already in some office or another.

[2naSalit]

5. One of the comments below the article

was, apparently, from an Indian who added that it isn't just our species that we would be traitors to for being deniers but ALL species, many of whom are already extinct or surely will be soon.