Kerry keynotes climate conference
Perhaps Massachusetts Senator John Kerry faded from the public eye after his unsuccessful run for the presidency in 2004, but in a speech last Saturday at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, he said he has turned his attention to bigger, more global issues. As keynote speaker of the “Beyond Science: The Economics and Politics of Responding to Climate Change” day-long event, Kerry highlighted the importance of addressing global climate change today.
Kerry said time has not made the problem of global warming disappear, likening those unwilling to accept climate change to ostriches with their heads stuck in the sand.
Kerry said the problem is escalating, with Antarctica, which holds 90 percent of the world’s ice, melting at a faster rate than predicted. He said the North Pole is predicted to have its first ice-free summer in 2013, even though it was a stable ice sheet in 1990.
To save the environment, Kerry said governments need to cap trade and instate mandatory emissions rates restraints. He cited Portland, Ore. as having Kyoto levels of production and being energy efficient. While Kerry said he hopes to impose restraints on each car to average 30 miles per gallon by 2020, he mentioned that China will already impose a 35.6 mile per gallon automobile restraint next year.
To begin to catch up to other nations in energy efficiency, Kerry said he wants to institute a stronger climate change science program, provide more money for research studying acidification of oceans and pass a cap-and-trade bill that calls for 80 percent reductions in emissions by 2050. He said smaller, less developed countries generally feel left out by these expensive measures, but he wants the United States and China to lead this movement and encourage these countries to share and differentiate responsibilities.
Kerry mentioned the 1990 amendment to the Clean Air Act, which called for $2 billion in two-and-a-half years against climate change. He said if scientists are wrong about global climate change, the worst that can happen under this bill is the creation of new jobs, an improved economy, more sustainability and lack of dependence on corrupt Middle Eastern governments. This would involve a fair amount of money, but Kerry said this is not unheard of, especially given the country’s involvement in the Iraq War. He said the government could install pumps for alternate fuel sources in every gas station in the country with the money spent in a week on Iraq.
Kerry said there are several economic benefits to striving for energy efficiency. He cited the management of a National Instruments company in Dallas that looked at the building plan, consolidated the building to two floors instead of three, so the building takes up less space and uses less energy, and used straight pipes in the construction of the interior for energy conservation. This move kept 80,000 jobs and saved over $3 million per year for the company.
“This allows people to see one of the success stories in the Clean Air Act, and understand that this doesn’t have to be as destructive as some of the naysayers want you to believe,” Kerry said.
Kerry said there is a substantial difference between the United States and European countries in conserving energy, with European people more concerned with turning off lights and escalators when not in use to save energy.
“Here in the United States, our escalators go 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” Kerry said. “Lights are on all night. We are unbelievably wasteful … yet we are spending millions of dollars needlessly as a consequence of that.”
He attributed Europe’s efficiency to its smaller geography and generally lower energy consumption in comparison to the United States.
Brown College senior Laura Kelley said she was glad Kerry spoke at the event and that she enjoyed being surrounded by others at the speech who truly found climate change alarming. She said it was a drastic change from the recent Student Association debates about the environmental blanket tax as well as the general lack of concern from students about Orientation Week’s common reading and climate change lecture.
“It was refreshing to be in the audience with a group of people on the same page that climate change is real and requires collective action from the academic side, because no unified effort is coming from Congress and the presidential administration,” Kelley, the Student Association president, said.
Kelley said she found the new statistics about climate change, including the projected 20 foot increase in the sea level in the next 100 years, and the initial discounting of Greenland’s ice sheet, surprising.
“I was pretty terrified,” Kelley said. “I left kind of inspired and wanting to keep supporting initiatives to reduce climate change.”
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