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Fuel Freedom Staff

U.S., China reach deal to cut emissions, but there are questions

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President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a milestone climate-change agreement in Beijing today, under which both countries would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to meet certain targets.

A major goal of the agreement, which still needs to be formalized, is to spur other nations to reduce their own carbon output.

But the deal already is coming under criticism: As The New York Times reports, at least one climate-change expert says China could do more on its end; the country is vowing to cut off peak emissions only at “around” the year 2030.

Republicans in Congress were swift to criticize the deal. As The Hill notes, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio issued a statement denouncing the deal as potentially harmful to the cheap energy that middle-class families rely on.

“This announcement is yet another sign that the president intends to double down on his job-crushing policies no matter how devastating the impact for America’s heartland and the country as a whole,” the statement said.

Fuel Freedom Staff

Shell ripped for sponsoring climate-change conference

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Shell was the only listed corporate sponsor of the 18th Annual Chatham House Conference on Climate Change in London. And some people thought that sponsorship a little out of step with the goals of such a conference, including reducing reliance on fossil fuels and addressing climate change.

One person who spoke out against Shell was the event’s keynote speaker Monday: climate-change activist Bill McKibben, founder of the group 350.org.

According to various published reports (read Salon.com’s take here, and RTCC’s take here), McKibben said in his speech:

“I didn’t know Shell was sponsoring this conference when I agreed to do it, but I’m glad for the chance to say in public that Shell is among the most irresponsible companies on earth. When they write the history of our time, the fact that Shell executives watched the Arctic melt and then led the rush to go drill for oil in that thawing north will provide the iconic example of the shortsighted greed that marks the richest people on our planet.”

Fuel Freedom Staff

U.N. climate report: Our carbon budget will be used up in 30 years

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It doesn’t get much more dire than this: A major new report by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecasts irreversible damage if the world doesn’t begin to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions now.

According to The New York Times:

If governments are to meet their own stated goal of limiting the warming of the planet to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2 degrees Celsius, above the preindustrial level, they must restrict emissions from additional fossil-fuel burning to about 1 trillion tons of carbon dioxide, the panel said. At current growth rates, that budget is likely to be exhausted in something like 30 years, possibly less.

Fuel Freedom Staff

Pentagon: Climate change could present threats to U.S. military

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The U.S. Defense Department has come out with a comprehensive report on the impact of climate change on America’s military. According to The Washington Post’s story on the report, “Drastic weather, rising seas and changing storm patterns could become ‘threat multipliers’ for the United States, vastly complicating security challenges faced by American forces …” Read the full report here.