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StumbleLETTER TO THE EDITOR:
Climate change has real effect on global poverty
Tuesday, July 27, 2010 | 2:02 a.m.
In his Monday letter to the editor, headlined “New energy policy would lift Nevada,” Scot Rutledge of the Nevada Conservation League correctly points out the positive impact that comprehensive climate and energy legislation would have on Nevada.
I would like to add that climate change also poses one of the greatest challenges in the 21st century in efforts to reduce global poverty and promote development.
Changes in the climate mean the inability to grow food, leaving many hungrier and poorer, especially women who tend to feed their families before feeding themselves. This type of poverty would eventually affect all of us.
So, if we are smart, we should invest early in coping mechanisms that will save both lives and money in the future, such as drought-resistant seeds for food banks in times of shortages, coastal tree barriers and raised homes to mitigate the effects of floods, and mosquito nets and health surveillance to prevent the spread of climate-related disease.
Careful planning and assistance are really best to overcome poverty in the long term. The cost of doing nothing? Every one of us would find our very existence threatened without the tools to deal with the harsh realities of a changing climate.
Therefore, let’s consider supporting comprehensive climate and energy legislation that not only addresses the impact on us but also on everyone. This is an issue that knows no borders.
The writer is the Nevada program associate of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, a nonprofit group.
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An Idea
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Bring our two Armies home and close down about half the military. Right there you will be off to a good start, just in hot air and exhaust fumes alone.
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Thanks Arizona, these guts get in here and literally save us trillions.
If we need to do something about global climate change, and most of the plans out there make virtually no change in the estimated trajectory, it should be simple rather then 'comprehensive'. Comprehensive, whether health care reform or financial reform or energy reform, seems to be just a code word for a massive bill that nobody will understand. It will have a lot of good intentions and even more space for regulations to be defined within the various government agencies. In the end, you should be able to do what is needed with a simple carbon tax. Like raising the gasoline tax would increase the cost of gasoline and that would move people toward more efficient vehicles and yet we don't do it despite the constant cry that we are short of that revenue to maintain our roads. I would rather see the prices of carbon based fuels go up and the market find the best alternative rather than having the government decide based on who has the best lobbyists or which company is in whose district.
Ms. Brett, when you get a chance, please explain how promoting 'energy efficiency' through your organization can be aided by 'comprehensive climate and energy legislation.' Don't you think it is a bit arrogant to actually believe that a society of 300 million people in a world of 7 billion people can legislate the climate?
My suggestion is you take the safe and easy path by simply declaring you are for world peace and then get back to your task of promoting energy efficiency.
Sorry, but climate change is not even close to the most important thing to reduce poverty. Not even close (in fact current prescriptions are likely to increase poverty). Nor is climate change the greatest threat to those who are impoverished.
Current climate change proposals aim at reducing energy use. Energy use is the very thing we depend on to produce wealth. Reducing energy use now, when 1 billion people on the planet rely on energy from coal fires or wood fires leaves 1 million women and children dead every year from smoke inhalation. This is just one affliction of many the poor in the world suffer from. This problem alone is several multiples higher than the highest estimates from death by global warming".
Anyone who says global warming is our greatest threat is either callous or unaware of the statistics.
If one grants that the rise in sea-level will occur as predicted, then I would bet that those who are already in poverty will have a much easier time coping with it than those in New York, Boston, San Franciso, Miami and other U.S seaports.
It's going to be hard to just pack up and move major cities.
Climate change is the biggest threat to the
entire world.
In the United States, the damage from tornadoes,
hurricanes and floods costs us BILLIONS of
dollars. Do we have the extra money to rebuild
our country every few years?
The damage in the last 10 years has been
unbelieveable.
Anyone who thinks climate change won't affect
world wide food production is not thinking.
Just two days ago heavy rains and floods broke
a dam in Iowa and flooded an entire town.
The 9 mile long lake is nolonger there.
This radical climate change is happening more
often around the world.
Last month Alabama was under water.
Take the blinders off, people.
I fully agree with you Ms brett.Climate Change is the greatest anthropogenic disaster humanity had ever known.Lack of planning to face this monster will certainly not only collapse the economy of any country,but it will also make situations out of control.This is an issue that knows no borders.