Gore Urges Action on Climate Change

On January 28, former vice president Al Gore testified before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the urgency of taking action to combat climate change, and recommended steps toward an international climate change treaty at UN negotiations in Copenhagen at the end of the year. In his opening statement, Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) said, "Climate change will be increasingly central for our foreign policy and national security, and it will be a focal point of this Committee's efforts as well." Ranking Member Richard Lugar (R-IN) also stated his agreement with Gore that there will be "an almost existential impact" from climate change. Using an updated slide show from his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, Gore showed how the continued and unabated rise in temperature "would bring a screeching halt to human civilization and threaten the fabric of life everywhere on Earth" within this century.

When asked for recommendations, Gore noted that the first steps the US government should take include passing President Obama's recovery package and taking action this year to institute a cap-and-trade system for CO2 emissions. He also emphasized the potential of technologies such as concentrated solar power (CSP) and geothermal, and the importance of creating a federally supported unified "national smart grid." By taking these steps, Gore said the United States "will regain its credibility and enter the Copenhagen treaty talks with a renewed authority to lead the world in shaping a fair and effective treaty."

Gore cited the following elements as "key" to a successful agreement in Copenhagen:

• Strong targets and timetables from industrialized countries and differentiated but binding commitments from developing countries
• Inclusion of deforestation
• The addition of carbon sinks including those from soils, principally from farmlands and grazing lands
• Assurance that developing countries will have access to mechanisms, technologies, and resources that will help them adapt to the worst impacts of the climate crisis
• A strong compliance and verification regime

When asked by Senator Lugar how bipartisan political support could be built around an international agreement, Gore cited developing countries' increased willingness to participate, new scientific evidence of recent warming, and President Obama's leadership.

Gore was also questioned about his views on specific policy options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions including a refundable carbon tax vs. cap-and-trade system, offsets, and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) asked if nuclear energy development needs to be part of the solution. "Nuclear plants only come in one size," Gore said. "Extra large." Utilities are wary of that kind of investment, and "that's why renewable have gone up."

For additional information see:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/28/ST20090128...
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKTRE50R79D20090128
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jPJM_6_n7Kc9qbPZuObMw...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jo9kwJ-2ggy8RkQve8erbj...
http://foreign.senate.gov/testimony/2009/KerryStatement090128p.pdf
http://foreign.senate.gov/testimony/2009/GoreTestimony090128p.pdf