Time for Green Action on Global Warming

Mark A. Dunlea, Poestenkill NY

As the artic tundra begins to thaw, the artic ice to melt, heat waves kills thousands in Europe and category five hurricanes batter the Gulf and Florida coasts, Congress and the Bush administration continue to move at a glacial pace in addressing global warming and climate change.

It is important for Greens to remind the media and the public that inaction on global warming has been a bipartisan effort by the Democrats and Republicans, with the Clinton-Gore administration equally committed to stonewalling as Bush-Cheney.

Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma made clear to the public - if not politicians - that there is a link between global warming and the power -- not frequency -- of hurricanes. The Gulf of Mexico's warm waters provided the heat to build three mild tropical storms into killers. There is also a clear connection between climate crisis and the war in Iraq. The United States, with 5% of the world's population, is responsible for 25% of the greenhouse gas emissions. The bipartisan effort to invade Iraq is the natural outgrowth of America's addiction to oil.

The litany of dangers posed by climate change - coastal flooding, damage to agriculture, mass extinctions, famine, hundreds of millions of refugees, increased war and conflict, and increased disease - seems so immense that I couldn't comprehend how the Democratic and Republican Parties have joined with Corporate America to block even limited action such as the Kyoto Protocol. (Greens agree with the overwhelming majority of scientists, who assert that the original Kyoto goal of a reduction of 5% to 1991 levels is severely inadequate and urge a 70% reduction.)

The light bulb went off when I read that economists argue that the devastation produced by climate change will only have a "1 to 4% disruption of the annual GNP in the US; possibly somewhat higher in developing countries."

American politicians thus believe it will be cheaper to deal with the problems created by climate change than to make the investments needed to change industrial, agriculture and transportation practices to reduce global warming. Corporate America of course understands that it is always cheaper to have taxpayers pay to clean up their problems after the fact rather than making businesses pay up front for the environmental damages they cause.

Greens should make the need to address global warming one of our centerpieces in elections, especially next year's Congressional election. Greens have to be clear that conservation is the first step. The US can not continue its obscene pattern of gobbling up the planet's resources. Energy efficiency doesn't do us much good if all it means is that consumers and businesses can drive their cars further distances or run their appliances more often. Witness how the additional power in the new hybrid cars is increasingly not used to increase mpg but to improve acceleration and other performance measures.

We need to intensify our calls - in state capitols and Congress, in the media and most importantly, in the streets - for creating a sustainable economy based on greater conservation, efficiency, and the development of clean, renewable energy sources like the sun, the wind, tides and geothermal. (But not nuclear, garbage incineration or 'clean' coal.) We need to educate people that such investments will mean millions of new jobs. Ironically, some multinational companies like General Electric are already targeting the new "environmental markets" that they realize must develop in response to global warming.

In the northeast, Governor George Pataki of New York has taken the lead in developing a Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to reduce the amount of greenhouse emissions by creating a cap and trade program for carbon emissions. (I will note that I oppose the concept of tradable pollution permits but they have been embraced by the mainstream environmental groups.)

Greens from these eight states need to work together to critique these proposals. Not surprisingly, despite the involvement of many large environmental groups in recent years, the proposals are so timid that they would have no impact on reducing carbon emissions. In addition, the tradable carbon permits that will be created will be worth billions of dollars annually. The politicians and many environmental groups want to give these permits away for free to the polluters so that the corporations won't fight the program. Greens need to demand that any such permits have to be auctioned off, with the revenues raised invested in green energy programs such as development of renewable energy sources.

There are many ways that Greens can promote a green energy agenda at the local level. In New York State, we organized a Green Energy Buying Club to promote the purchase of wind power, though the program was not as successful as we had hoped. In my home town of Poestenkill, I am working with the republican Town Supervisor to explore the feasibility of creating a municipal wind generator that would help reduce local property taxes. A local green candidate for Congress took part in an action letting the air out of tires of SUVs at the local car dealership. Alice Green, our candidate for Mayor in Albany, released a green city agenda that endorsed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and called for the enactment of a Global Warming Action Plan similar to Portland, Oregon.

Greens should also create a Green Energy Company to promote renewable energy systems for homeowners, schools, nonprofits and businesses. This would provide employment for green activists, raise money for the green movement and help transform our society into a green world.

Of course, as an international movement, the Greens are uniquely positioned to transcend national boundaries to promote united campaigns on climate change. From November 28 to December 9, representatives from over 150 countries will be meeting at a major United Nations Climate Conference in Montreal, Canada. December 3rd is an International Day of Action to Stop Global Warming. Events are being organized in 26 countries.

The planet will survive climate change; many species however will not. The solution to global warming is a green world. It is time for the greens to stand up and demand action.