Dr. James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and of one of the world’s most prominent and vocal advocates of tackling global climate change head-on, has written jointly with his wife a lenghty letter addressed to both Barack and Michelle Obama. The letter is intended as a personal appeal warning of the “profound disconnect between actions that policy circles are considering and what the science demands for preservation of the planet”. The introduction of letter notes that Dr. Hansen has advised governments previously through regular channels but the urgency of the situation now dictates a “personal appeal.”

The letter was released to The Guardian and published as well on Dr. Hansen’s website at Columbia University.

Calling climate change “the most important matter of our times,” Dr. Hansen encourages the President-lect to undertake three policy directives to address climatic change. First, Dr. Hansen calls for a moratorium and phasing out of coal-fired power stations globally – which he calls “factories of death” – that do not incorporate carbon capture adding that this is “the sine qua non for solving the climate problem.” Continuing to build coal-fired power plants would “raise atmospheric carbon dioxide to a level at least approaching 500 ppm (parts per million)” and lead to the extinction of perhaps a million species.” Current carbon dioxide levels are 385 ppm up from 280 ppm in the pre-industrial period. Dr. Hansen concludes that an urgent geophysical fact has become clear: “burning all the fossil fuels will destroy the planet we know.”

Second, he proposes a “carbon tax and 100% dividend”. The idea is to tax carbon at source, then redistribute the revenue equally among taxpayers, so that high carbon users are penalised while low carbon users are rewarded with a rebate. However, the carbon tax is revenue neutral apart from administrative costs for the Federal government. According to Dr. Hansen, high fossil fuel taxes are essential to “decarbonize” the economy but they are also required to “spur innovation as entrepreneurs compete to develop and market low-carbon and no-carbon energies and products.” He adds that “the carbon tax has social benefits. It is progressive. It is useful to those most in need in hard times, providing them an opportunity for larger dividend than tax.”

Finally, Dr. Hansen urges a renewed research effort into fourth generation nuclear plants (4th GNP), which can can “burn” nuclear waste, leaving a small volume of waste with a half-life of decades rather than thousands of years as with current nuclear plants. Noting that extensive R&D is still required (the plants are unlikely to come on-stream before 2030) but Dr. Hansen argues that only a substantial effort to develop 4th GNP will wean China and India off coal-fired power plants.

In the letter, Dr. Hansen argues strongly against a “cap and trade” system stating that such a system will generate “special interests, lobbyists, and trading schemes, yielding non productive millionaires, all at public expense.” The full letter is at the UK Guardian.

Below the fold is an analysis of cap and trade versus carbon tax from the World Watch Institute.

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From the New York Times:

Arab countries appeared deeply divided on Wednesday over how to respond to the latest escalation in fighting between Israel and Hamas, with sharply differing comments from foreign ministers at the opening of an emergency Arab League meeting here.

Moderate Arab states generally allied to the United States blamed Palestinian disunity for the crisis and more radical states, some of whom did not attend, urged collective action to defend the Palestinians against Israel.

In the most striking comments, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, criticized the Palestinians for their inability to remain united behind President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah — an implicit condemnation of Hamas, which took over Gaza entirely in 2007 in a brief but violent civil war with Fatah. Normally, during periods of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, Arab leaders only condemn Israel.

“This terrible massacre would not have happened if the Palestinian people were united behind one leadership, speaking in one voice,” Prince Saud said at the league meeting’s opening. “We are telling our Palestinian brothers that your Arab nation cannot extend a real helping hand if you don’t extend your own hands to each other with love,” he said.

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When was the modern era born? This is a question historians continue to debate. There are indeed many possible starting points depending on what one considers a critical breaking moment in human history. The earliest date that I have ever seen ascribed is 1215 and the signing of the Magna Carta in England. Magna Carta is arguably the most significant early influence on the historical processes that led to the rule of constitutional law and the formation of universal political rights. Other historians will point more broadly to a series of events that began with the Black Death of 1348-1350 that transformed labour relations in Europe leading to revitalization of trade which led in turn led to a general flourishing of culture so much so that we called this period of history the Renaissance. Problem is that is still a very Euro-centric approach to the question.

Many historians, but not all, seem , however, to have settled on the year 1500. It’s a nice round number to begin with and it covers the Age of Discovery and the realization that the world was much larger than first suspected. In the century that followed, the modern nation-state rises and the institutions associated with large polities begin to develop. While this date is certainly a critical one and one of the fundamental epochs in human history because it reunited the two branches of humanity largely to benefit of one and the detriment of the another and because it marked the Columbian Exchange that would bring a widespread trade of plants, animals, foods, diet, human populations (including slaves), communicable diseases, and ideas between the Eastern and Western hemispheres. It’s hard to argue against the Columbian Exchange as the seminal event in human history because without question its impact was truly global affecting the vast majority of humanity. Still the Columbian Exchange did not affect a totality of humanity.
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The fireworks from Sydney Harbour. Happy New Year and thanks for reading the blog. Now I can’t wait for that new era that is still 20 days away.

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