Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
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leadership in <strong>the</strong> long emergency S 97<br />
nuclear power plants are virtually certain. Debt, decaying infrastructure,<br />
a national health care emergency, and a badly fractured<br />
political system, among o<strong>the</strong>r things, will fur<strong>the</strong>r constrain <strong>the</strong><br />
choices <strong>the</strong> president can make, while consuming political attention,<br />
energy, and money. But <strong>the</strong> effects <strong>of</strong> <strong>climate</strong> destabilization<br />
will soon overshadow every o<strong>the</strong>r concern.<br />
The task for <strong>the</strong> president is <strong>to</strong> res<strong>to</strong>re trust, rebuild public<br />
confi dence in government, and provide <strong>the</strong> leadership necessary<br />
<strong>to</strong> bring order out <strong>of</strong> our present divisions. In such circumstances,<br />
crafting good <strong>climate</strong> policy by which we might minimize <strong>the</strong><br />
worst while adapting <strong>to</strong> what we cannot avoid will be politically<br />
diffi cult but absolutely essential. In journalist and author<br />
Tom Friedman’s words quoted above, however: “We have not<br />
even begun <strong>to</strong> be serious about <strong>the</strong> costs, <strong>the</strong> effort and scale <strong>of</strong><br />
change that will be required <strong>to</strong> shift our country, and eventually<br />
<strong>the</strong> world, <strong>to</strong> a largely emissions-free energy infrastructure over<br />
<strong>the</strong> next 50 years” (2007, p. 42). The long emergency ahead is different<br />
precisely because it will span virtually every o<strong>the</strong>r issue and<br />
virtually all aspects <strong>of</strong> society for a period <strong>of</strong> time we can scarcely<br />
imagine. Climate stabilization and res<strong>to</strong>ration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> biosphere<br />
must be made permanent commitments <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nation and must<br />
be sustained as a matter <strong>of</strong> national survival indefi nitely.<br />
To that end, in June <strong>of</strong> 2006, Ray Anderson, Bill Becker, Gary<br />
Hart, Adam Lewis, Michael Northrup, and I launched a twoyear<br />
effort <strong>to</strong> craft a detailed <strong>climate</strong> policy for <strong>the</strong> fi rst hundred<br />
days <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> administration that would assume <strong>of</strong>fi ce in January<br />
<strong>of</strong> 2009. 1 After dozens <strong>of</strong> meetings, conference calls, papers, and<br />
presentations, <strong>the</strong> deliberations <strong>of</strong> several hundred scientists, policy<br />
experts, and communications strategists, and presentations <strong>to</strong><br />
presidential candidates both Republican and Democrat, <strong>the</strong> fi nal<br />
document was handed over <strong>to</strong> president-elect Obama’s transition<br />
team in November <strong>of</strong> 2008. The plan described over 300 possible<br />
actions <strong>the</strong> president could take, as well as a legal analysis<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> executive authority at his disposal. Beneath <strong>the</strong> details, <strong>the</strong>