Hat tip to Climate Progress: Another “Must Read” from Hansen: ‘Long-term’ climate sensitivity of 6°C for doubled CO2.

Hansen writes:

The global warming crisis differs fundamentally from the planetary crisis of the past century, the nuclear standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States, in which disaster depended upon at least one party taking action. In contrast, the present threat to the planet and civilization, with the United States and China the principal players (although Europe has a large responsibility, as shown in Figure 10), requires only inaction in the face of clear scientific evidence of danger.

Common sense does not support inaction, even if all parties place highest priority on economic well being. Fossil fuel inventories are limited and national and global pictures when energy has moved “beyond fossil fuels” are highly attractive. Cooperation among nations would make sense for all parties, and this can occur on many levels, even without major international treaties.

Indeed, it is a mistake to think that progress and turning the corner toward decreasing emissions is dependent upon hammering out a grandiose international agreement, which would almost surely take more time than is available. The primary need is insightful leadership. There is great economic advantage in getting to that cleaner future sooner. Once this is comprehended, by either of the principal players, progress could become rapid.

The roadblock to the needed actions is not national economic well-being. It is the special interests who give primacy to their own short-term profits. Unfortunately, these special interests have undue sway in many national governments. For this reason, we believe that solution of global warming requires the public to pay attention to this issue in the electoral process, and we have suggested use of a specific Declaration of Stewardship (Hansen 2007c).

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