I am going to add some more information from the beginning of the talk below, but if nothing else you should watch this video! This discussion really sums up a lot of what has gone on in recent elections and how progress on climate change policy was affected. There were literally times when it took all of my self control not to throw out an AMEN! The guy at the end was my personal favorite! He had a lot of funny lingo going on.
Ok random event just occured that I have to talk about. A guy sitting near me in
the hotel lobby asked about my internet connection because his phone was not
picking up any. We ended up having a 15 minute conversation that was actually
very interesting! He is originally from Egypt, but now lives in Qatar to coach
professional soccer, or football as he called it. He actually played on the
professional Egyptian team when they went to the World Cup in Italy. (His name
is Allah if you want to look that up and see if it's actually true.) But he
asked me about the U.S., what I was studying in school, if I had played any
sports, and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. Main cool thing
about it - I really felt like he took me seriously as a person and said he
enjoyed talking to a " nice American girl." And now he just asked the guy at
the reception desk to bring me hot chocolate....
Anyways, I really loved this talk and took a ton of notes, so if I don't clarify something in my attempt to shorten it down and you are like .....whaa?.... please ask me!
This talk was not on the main schedule since it was basically thrown together at the last minute. It was held in a small room, and was only advertised by flyers they had made up and had sitting at the U.S. Center table. That being said, there weren't an overwhelming amount of attendees, but the small setting made it feel more personable and I actually liked that aspect. A member of the Union of Concerned Scientists started off, talking about how the ExxonMobile "fake debate" on climate change was finally wearing off. After the recent re-election of the Obama administration, which has outwardly supported green progress, expectations at the level of U.S. citizens and international bodies are set pretty high. He outlined three important issues that the administration would have to address in order to successfully implement climate change policy - 1. equity, meaning that everyone stops pointing fingers at each other and takes responsibility for their actions; 2. transparency, meaning that the government needs to begin to outline to the public exactly how they plan to execute emission reduction targets set, and 3. financing, which is of course on everyone's minds with the current state of the economy. He suggested that pursuing innovative financing options be the focus of this issue.
Next up was the International Climate Policy Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. The part of his presentation I like most was when he talked about the pre-2008 perspective on climate as opposed to the perspective being taken now. If election results had different in 2008, a proposed 150 new coal power plants may exist today and emissions would be about 25% higher in 2020 than they were in 2005. Some main points that the Obama administration has taken on and succeded in implimenting include the finalization of passenger vehicle regulations, which will carry through to 2025 and should double transportation efficiency, which is one of the most aggressive standards on passenger vehicles in the world. In 2012, the first heavy truck standards in the world were finalized, as well as stricter regulations of household appliances. He left us with a list of other numerous regulations in the process of being finalized right now, like an addition to the Clean Air Act which would prevent the building of any new coal power plants without carbon capture or other similar technology.
The last presenter, a woman at the COP who represents a busniess focused organization, made some very interesting conclusions from this year's election. She commented on how energy and environmental issues have become more polarized than ever before. However, the outcome supporting decision
makers who believe in green policy, makes her believe that those formerly
opposed will now pause to think about it and figure out why so many people are
now becoming concerned. In turn, those in Congress will rethink their positions
on environmental issues in order to keep their jobs. I think this is a great
point that I've heard expressed many different ways, but mainly regarding the
need for certain political parties to "evolve" their views in order to survive
in today's world.
the hotel lobby asked about my internet connection because his phone was not
picking up any. We ended up having a 15 minute conversation that was actually
very interesting! He is originally from Egypt, but now lives in Qatar to coach
professional soccer, or football as he called it. He actually played on the
professional Egyptian team when they went to the World Cup in Italy. (His name
is Allah if you want to look that up and see if it's actually true.) But he
asked me about the U.S., what I was studying in school, if I had played any
sports, and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. Main cool thing
about it - I really felt like he took me seriously as a person and said he
enjoyed talking to a " nice American girl." And now he just asked the guy at
the reception desk to bring me hot chocolate....
Anyways, I really loved this talk and took a ton of notes, so if I don't clarify something in my attempt to shorten it down and you are like .....whaa?.... please ask me!
This talk was not on the main schedule since it was basically thrown together at the last minute. It was held in a small room, and was only advertised by flyers they had made up and had sitting at the U.S. Center table. That being said, there weren't an overwhelming amount of attendees, but the small setting made it feel more personable and I actually liked that aspect. A member of the Union of Concerned Scientists started off, talking about how the ExxonMobile "fake debate" on climate change was finally wearing off. After the recent re-election of the Obama administration, which has outwardly supported green progress, expectations at the level of U.S. citizens and international bodies are set pretty high. He outlined three important issues that the administration would have to address in order to successfully implement climate change policy - 1. equity, meaning that everyone stops pointing fingers at each other and takes responsibility for their actions; 2. transparency, meaning that the government needs to begin to outline to the public exactly how they plan to execute emission reduction targets set, and 3. financing, which is of course on everyone's minds with the current state of the economy. He suggested that pursuing innovative financing options be the focus of this issue.
Next up was the International Climate Policy Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. The part of his presentation I like most was when he talked about the pre-2008 perspective on climate as opposed to the perspective being taken now. If election results had different in 2008, a proposed 150 new coal power plants may exist today and emissions would be about 25% higher in 2020 than they were in 2005. Some main points that the Obama administration has taken on and succeded in implimenting include the finalization of passenger vehicle regulations, which will carry through to 2025 and should double transportation efficiency, which is one of the most aggressive standards on passenger vehicles in the world. In 2012, the first heavy truck standards in the world were finalized, as well as stricter regulations of household appliances. He left us with a list of other numerous regulations in the process of being finalized right now, like an addition to the Clean Air Act which would prevent the building of any new coal power plants without carbon capture or other similar technology.
The last presenter, a woman at the COP who represents a busniess focused organization, made some very interesting conclusions from this year's election. She commented on how energy and environmental issues have become more polarized than ever before. However, the outcome supporting decision
makers who believe in green policy, makes her believe that those formerly
opposed will now pause to think about it and figure out why so many people are
now becoming concerned. In turn, those in Congress will rethink their positions
on environmental issues in order to keep their jobs. I think this is a great
point that I've heard expressed many different ways, but mainly regarding the
need for certain political parties to "evolve" their views in order to survive
in today's world.
RSS Feed