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EU Sets Goal To Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions 40% By 2030

An anonymous reader writes: The 28 nations in the European Union agreed Friday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40% (going by 1990 levels) by the year 2030. The deal received widespread criticism; industry bosses said the 2030 targets were too extreme, while many environmental groups said the goals weren't ambitious enough. The deal requires each nation to achieve the goal independently — earlier targets could use international offsets to avoid or reduce action. EU officials hope the agreement will encourage the U.S. and China to take a more aggressive stance on fighting climate change.

172 comments

  1. Re: more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bennett Hasselton

  2. Cruel way by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

    The cruel way to cut emissions is to offer suicide booths to people. That way that person won't contribute anymore.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    1. Re:Cruel way by gewalker · · Score: 2

      Not that I am pro-suicide booths, but at least they are voluntary for individuals (well at least if they had a few safeguards against accidental usage sadly lacking from the Futurama version were it not for the comedic element). They are not as cruel as forcing millions a people to live in squalor with poor sanitation, non-potable water supplies, limited food resources, etc. because someone else decided CO2 is bad and you can't be allowed to have any fossil fuels.

      Please, if you are going to insist on no fossil fuels, delay that enforcement until we actually have some viable alternatives. Any alternative that is not nuclear or future tech is not really a viable alternative. Renewables without cheap energy storage are clearly not a viable replacement technology by themselves. The time to develop LFTR on a Manhattan Project basis is negligible in terms of additional CO2 burden if you could start converting fossil fuels power plants en masse starting in 2025. Lockheed Martin hss promised fusion by 2025. LFTR is the safe bet in terms of viability; no-one that really understands the technology says any fundamental breakthroughs are needed. So do both and let ITER and other projects continue.

      Give us cheap room temperature superconductors and we could cover deserts around the world with solar panels and windmills without having to store energy. Or just nano-tech solar cells that grow themselves all over our roads. I am not fussy about how it is done, but if you double the cost of electricity you are killing people in large numbers. German electricity is already 0.36 per kWh and 0.12 in the US and 0.08 in China and India. Where do you think manufacturing will grow, where are people burning lots of wood because it it deemed renewable? You and Al Gore are probably safe though, so why should you really care -- pretending to care is enough isn't it.

      Not really harping on you in particular since I suspect you would going for the comedic line. But we are ruled by lots of stupid and venal politicians that are pissing on the future as well as today.

    2. Re:Cruel way by haruchai · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There's no need to wait for the perfect solution and there are plenty of avenues to follow and that are being followed.
      2030 is 15 years away and there are other very significants sources of CO2 apart from energy use. Given how long the warnings about global warming have been around, this should have been a problem that's nearly solved, not in desperate need of a magic solution within a decade.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    3. Re:Cruel way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      pretending to care is enough isn't it.

      Pretending to care convincingly is the key to success in politics. Don't just hitch your horse to the post of someone who seems to care. Things about the long term effects of their concrete solutions to the problems they care about. As we've seen, "Hope and change" is a worthless promise, made by a charlatan.

    4. Re:Cruel way by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      If you want to demolish that academic cartel, perhaps the most effective way to do so would be for the tech community to embrace the very worst-case greenhouse gas scenario the Greens espouse. Let's see the look on their faces as we explain that the one way we can stop emitting carbon in one generation is to go nuclear. Be sure to wear a poncho to avoid spatter from those exploding heads.

    5. Re:Cruel way by penguinoid · · Score: 2

      As I understand it, we could prevent global warming right now without reducing our use of fossil fuels, and even cause an ice age if we so choose. Of course there will be side-effects for those methods. And we will have to cease our use of fossil fuels in the not-too-distant future anyhow. And the use of fossil fuels also generally creates other pollutants as well. So we could kill three birds with one stone if we could wean ourselves off fossil fuels now rather than later.

      I suspect the reason we're all dragging our feet about this is economics. Not many are willing to commit economic suicide now even if it is to prevent real suicide later.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    6. Re:Cruel way by haruchai · · Score: 1

      It's not entirely clear to me what this "economic suicide" is. Is it all about buying useless crap that we didn't need 15 yrs ago?
      An investment in better infrastructure would be a huge economic stimulus and would entail large numbers of jobs that pay well, develop skills and can't be entirely offshored.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    7. Re:Cruel way by penguinoid · · Score: 1

      All else being equal, creating jobs is bad. It's like saying, "Look! I found a way to do just as much as before, but it requires more labor!"

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    8. Re:Cruel way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also, in 15 years it will be apparent that global warming was all a hoax anyway. They can say Co2 have gone down, and really hasn't, and claim victory while politicians rake in the money, and citizens pay big bucks for more expensive energy.

    9. Re:Cruel way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If it's a conspiracy of dunces & a pack of lies, why does Rex Tillerson, the CEO of Exxon believe that the world is warming due to fossil fuel use?

      Well-connected corporations frequently espouse whatever the political class wants them to say. That keeps government regulators from targeting them and makes it more likely that the corporation will be the recipient of special favors from the government. Example from outside the world of climate change: The Dallas Cowboys signed Michael Sam to their practice squad because American politicians are pushing the gay agenda and want to help gay activists queerify professional sports. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones "took one for the team" so-to-speak so that the NFL could keep all its tax perks. After the requisite waiting period and after mumbling in an irritated way about all the attention being given by the media to a player who was only on the practice squad, Jones got rid of Sam. Corporations and their executives read the political fashions and try them on on occasion, but that doesn't mean they sincerely believe whatever nonsense is being peddled. Another example if you need one: Health insurance companies backed Obamacare even though Obamacare is designed to destroy the private health insurance industry. A third example: Healthy U.S. Banks accepted TARF bailout funds even though they didn't want to because the Obama Administration threatened to eff them up if they didn't.

    10. Re:Cruel way by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      The only reasons for not using nucleur is the safety of the fuel and possibly the setup costs otherwise it would be top of the list for power stations and all coal and gas ones would be decomissioned (although its good to have diversity in power generation)

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    11. Re:Cruel way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      since when was all else equal ?

    12. Re:Cruel way by haruchai · · Score: 1

      I was referring to job creation through new infrastructure, which, one hopes, will create new opportunities.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    13. Re:Cruel way by haruchai · · Score: 0

      2014 is likely to be the warmest year globally on record or narrowly in 2nd place and almost no chance of ending up in 3rd without a very large volcanic explosion.
      The only year prior to 2000 that's in the top 10 is 1998 which was launched with one of the strongest El Nino events of the 20th century.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
  3. ...and everybody gets to be right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's too extreme to be done and not ambitious enough to achieve the goals.

    1. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by ganjadude · · Score: 5, Insightful

      while many environmental groups said the goals weren't ambitious enough.

      They could say they want to cut the number 100% by 2030, and there would be people out there saying its not fast enough. It seems for some reason everytime something like this comes up, the only people you hear are those who say we shouldnt do anything, and those who say we are already doomed and should live in mud huts. Why cant we come up with a rational response? something where we use what we have now, and work towards a better tomorrow together?

      instead of saying "global warming is a hoax!" why not say "well, its always better to have a clean environment, so lets work towards the goals"

      and instead of saying "we need to stop using oil now! we need to stop using X Y Z NOW!!!" , how about we say "well, i know we cant stop society by eliminating everything that is "bad for the environment" so lets work at it one step at a time"

      in the end, we go broke, shady business people get rich, and nothing changes. its disgusting

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    2. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by _Sharp'r_ · · Score: 0

      Because you're assuming the conclusion.

      Have you considered the possibility that increased carbon dioxide emissions are good for the environment, because it encourages more plant growth? That it's good for people, because it enables them to live a better lifestyle? Even the possibility that a few fractions of a degree of warming would be a net benefit? I'm not suggesting you accept those positions based on a /. post, but have you actually looked into it yourself, maybe talked to an economist or a agricultural biologist about the tradeoffs? From your post, it seems your assumption is that both sides agree on what would be "better", but they don't.

      The "leaders" who supposedly agree that carbon dioxide emissions are bad show by their actions that they really don't think so. If you look at what the global warming/climate change/climate disruption/whatever environmentalists actually advocate for and do personally, it's obvious that their goals have more to do with the means of controlling emissions more than the actual emissions themselves.

      Why would anyone who disagrees with them take the position that they should empower that crowd to control their lives, when they don't even agree reducing carbon dioxide emissions is a good goal, let alone agree with the proposed means for reaching the goal?

      --
      The party of stupid and the party of evil get together and do something both stupid and evil, then call it bipartisan.
    3. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by Whiternoise · · Score: 2

      Given that a good proportion of the world was forested in the past and CO2 was a lot lower back then, I don't think you can use that argument. England used to be heavily forested until we started fighting the French, Spanish and Portuguese navies. Similar things happened all over the world as industry and war kicked off. More importantly plants don't solely depend on CO2 to survive, there are limiting factors like nutrient content in soils, water and so on which are more likely to dominate.

      As for politics: leaders tend not to go through with their bold claims because they know that it's political suicide if they actually start enacting them in a meaningful way. If we committed seriously to lowering emissions, things would probably get more expensive and that's a fast way to get kicked out of power. Similarly if you're being backed by energy companies, as are a lot of senators, it's awfully hard for you to admit that global warming is a problem. This is compounded with serious scientific ignorance on the part of many politicians.

    4. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      instead of saying "global warming is a hoax!" why not say "well, its always better to have a clean environment, so lets work towards the goals"

      There are already very robust environment laws on the books and they are already vigorously enforced, so vigorously in fact that they are being used as political weapons in the U.S. Just ask Texans about how the EPA is trying to shut down down a bunch of power plants in TX. TX didn't vote for Obama? Well, we'll just see how TX likes brownouts and having the TX economy dragged down by a lack of increased power capacity. NOBODY is advocating letting the environment go to hell.

      instead of saying "we need to stop using oil now! we need to stop using X Y Z NOW!!!" , how about we say "well, i know we cant stop society by eliminating everything that is "bad for the environment" so lets work at it one step at a time"

      How about saying, "coal and petroleum have worked well as energy resources, lets not let anti-capitalist fear mongers demonize the oil business"?

      we go broke

      Radical environmentalists are responsible for high gas prices. In most situations, oil is the cheapest and most reliable form of energy. That's why it's used.

      shady business people get rich

      Why don't you just admit that you consider "shady business people" to be redundant? Where do you suppose you picked up your negative attitude toward corporations? Why do you suppose you feel the need to suggest that getting rich is somehow bad? Why do you want to have a lot of money even though you have been taught a negative attitude toward "the rich"?

      and nothing changes. its disgusting

      There is no wisdom in promoting change for change's sake. There is no real problem with the way that energy is currently generated and used. Naturally, there are ongoing and continuous efforts from many sectors to incrementally improve energy efficiency and to find other ways of obtaining, generating and using energy. Even if oil, coal and natural gas start to become scarce - and there is no sign of that happening yet, they won't disappear overnight. If and when they do get scarce, the laws of economics will gradually drive their cost up which will automatically make people switch to alternatives and to more vigorous seek new energy technologies. Letting the free market operate really is better than letting politicians create artificial scarcity and artificially high prices.

    5. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by kenai_alpenglow · · Score: 1

      And when it was warmer, the savanna extended further into the Sahara. If this repeated, some dirt-poor African countries might be more able to feed themselves. Heck, this might even lessen conflict in those same areas. But this doesn't fit the "Global Warming is a total CATASTROPHE" propaganda...

    6. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by _Sharp'r_ · · Score: 1

      If you are wondering about the impact of carbon dioxide on say, forests, this type of question is easy to research with a quick Google search. In 30 seconds, I found this NSF study by Harvard researchers, for example, not exactly normally a hotbed of pro-GHG folks.

      It's actually quite well-established that increased carbon dioxide levels are very good for plant growth. As it turns out, it also enables them to grow while needing less water, for example.

      --
      The party of stupid and the party of evil get together and do something both stupid and evil, then call it bipartisan.
    7. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by Nemyst · · Score: 1

      As a general rule, I consider that if you're being criticized by all sides, you're pretty much spot on.

    8. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by Barsteward · · Score: 2

      I rather all vehicles were electric because i'd like to walk around towns and cities that didn;t smell of car fumes and i see that as a valid target for cutting back on pollution.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    9. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would say that hefty comments are because a nerve has been uncovered: Either wrongfully or rightfully. Just because you can disturb does not mean you should (irregardless of this specific case).

    10. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Why cant we come up with a rational response? something where we use what we have now, and work towards a better tomorrow together?

      Because of bad journalism. The reality is that the mainstream environmental movement is very rational and practical. There are even some politicians that are too. They don't make good headlines or make the reader angry and fearful though, so they tend to be ignored by journalists.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    11. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      anyone who has ever grown anything indoors knows one of the things you do is buy a CO2 generator! anyone who thinks CO2 is bad for plant growth knows nothing about plants

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    12. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      agreed, which is the point I am making. Sure they are nice, and one day they will become viable to the masses. now is not that time and trying to force them onto us would be a horrible idea (CAFE is heading in that direction already)

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    13. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      just a side note, my shady business people was more of a jab at the people making the laws with the politicians, not the oil companies. they have some very low return, government taxes take more pennies per gallon than the oil companies make per gallon (how would you like that gig? do nothing and collect more than the business does?)

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    14. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by ultranova · · Score: 1

      Why cant we come up with a rational response? something where we use what we have now, and work towards a better tomorrow together?

      Better tomorrow for whom? If I burn a gallon of gasoline getting to work today, my tomorrow will be better, even if the day after that will be worse for everyone. Powers that be have spent several decades trying to get people to believe selfishness is a virtue rather than a character flaw. That same bullshit is now preventing them from doing anything about anything.

      Everyone are making rational decisions based on the principle of selfishness: "I have mine, screw you". They're following it straight to Hell.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    15. Re:...and everybody gets to be right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are so right about about the increased CO2 levels being good for plant growth.
      I only have 2 trees that are 25,000 ft high, and they are doing great! The shorter ones, not so much.

  4. Theory vs reality? by argStyopa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "EU officials hope the agreement will encourage the U.S. and China to take a more aggressive stance on fighting climate change."
    The US?

    Would that be the same United States that met the original Kyoto reduction targets without trying?

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yes, but they cheated! They should have done it by government mandate or natural disaster rather than by fracking.

    2. Re:Theory vs reality? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, and it's also the same Germany whose own Greens are causing it to increase its emissions of greenhouse gas:
        http://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/...
      (In German, but the bar chart lists both CO2 and other greenhouse gases)

    3. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      When other countries reduce their carbon footprints, what's the increased incentive for the US and China to reduce theirs?

    4. Re:Theory vs reality? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Uh, I was expecting some alarming jump, but what you've linked looks almost like a statistical error. The trend still seems to be one of a long-term decrease, doesn't it? I guess the closing down of old coal-firing power plants threw a temporary spanner in the works, but it seems far from clear that there won't be a measurable downward trend.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:Theory vs reality? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

      Eh, that should have been "the closing down of the old nuclear power plants" (which have been replaced, along with some old coal-firing plants, with more modern coal-firing plants, better suitable for running in a grid with a lot of renewables).

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    6. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I don't know that United States. The US in this universe increased emissions 1990-2012.

    7. Re:Theory vs reality? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2, Interesting

      When other countries reduce their carbon footprints, what's the increased incentive for the US and China to reduce theirs?

      Saving money.
      Shale gas is cheaper than coal.
      LED bulbs pay for themselves in six months.
      Electric cars will soon have a TCO lower than gas.
      Technological improvements and market economics have reduced CO2 by far more than government decrees.

    8. Re:Theory vs reality? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      I don't know that United States. The US in this universe increased emissions 1990-2012.

      They first round of the Kyoto Protocol did not require absolute reduction, just slower growth. The US, which did not sign the protocol, increased emissions by less than most of the countries that did. The main reason was a huge increase in shale gas production, displacing coal.

    9. Re:Theory vs reality? by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      Would that be the same United States that met the original Kyoto reduction targets without trying?

      If electric cars become common, then the US may very well do that again.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    10. Re:Theory vs reality? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 0

      When discussing these sorts of treaties, it's important to make note of the differing legal systems that exist in the countries involved.

      If the U.S. had signed and ratified Kyoto, it would've had the force of U.S. law. The government could've been sued and forced to meet the requirements.

      Compare this to some other countries that did sign Kyoto - Canada, for instance. Canada didn't even come close to meeting the stated targets. So, a year or two before the deadline they simply withdrew from the pact - not something that would've been an option for the U.S.

      Same thing with most European countries. Some met or exceeded their targets, while others did not. But there were no penalties applied to the countries that did not succeed.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    11. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "EU officials hope the agreement will encourage the U.S. and China to take a more aggressive stance on fighting climate change."
      The US?

      Would that be the same United States that met the original Kyoto reduction targets without trying?

      Good job!!!!
      Now cut the emissions in half and you will almost be down to the EU per capita emissions.
      See http://m.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29239194

    12. Re:Theory vs reality? by haruchai · · Score: 2

      The United States did no such thing and the initial Kyoto targets were fucking weak to begin with.

      Had America signed on, it would have been required to reduce emissions of 6 GHGs by 7% compared to the levels in 1990.
      Several of those GHGs are MUCH more potent than CO2 for trapping heat.

      From what I can tell, the USA reduced only the CO2 by about 5% from the 1997 levels which were 10% higher than those of 1990.

      The CO2 may have gone down thanks to all that fracking and the drop in economic activity from the crises of 2009 but there was a lot of untabulated methane from the multitude of wells drilled to get that all that shale gas.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    13. Re:Theory vs reality? by Teun · · Score: 1
      Whether shale or conventional, properly drilled AND completed wells don't leak, period.

      It's a typical US problem, originally sanctioned by the Cheney administration.

      --
      "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
    14. Re:Theory vs reality? by JDAustin · · Score: 3, Informative

      A few points of order though.
      - Clinton signed Kyoto but never sent it to the senate. The reason being is it never had support from either party and would have died by about 90 votes.
      - Second, W could have withdrawn from Kyoto with a stroke of a pen as the President can cancel treaties.
      - And finally, treaties inherently do not have the force of law behind them. They do not supersede Federal, State or even individual rights (see the recent Bond v US ruling). Now the Obama admin doesn't agree with this as they argued that a treaty trumps everything....but as we know with Obama/Holder, just because he says its doesn't mean its true.

    15. Re:Theory vs reality? by JDAustin · · Score: 1

      Had we signed on and actually meet the goals in Kyoto, individual CO2 emissions would have to be at the level they were in 1850.

    16. Re:Theory vs reality? by inhuman_4 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not the people, but business.

      Doing things the green way is usually more expensive. Most companies would be happy to dump toxic shit in to rivers, and pollute the air if governments would let them. So if Europe says you have to do X to keep the environment clean, and X costs Y, some companies will pay Y amount and others will move so that they don't have to do X.

      Nike could pay people a decent wage in the US to make their shoes. But sweat shops in the developing world are much cheaper. This is the same issue, but with the environment instead of wages.

    17. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would that be the same United States that met the original Kyoto reduction targets without trying?

      Good job!!!!
      Now cut the emissions in half and you will almost be down to the EU per capita emissions.
      See http://m.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29239194

      And after that, every industrialized nation can cut its per capita emissions down to half that of Cost Rica and everyone can live in a pre-industrial shithole. Seriously, comparing per capita emission or per capita energy use is meaningless without looking at the whole picture. Primitive nations produce no industrial pollutants, but that doesn't mean that we should turn back the clock on civilization.

    18. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unlike the nations of Europe, the U.S. actually has an increasing population. So even if all other factors stayed the same, U.S. emissions would have increased. Kyoto would have imposed dramatic conditions on the U.S. that all other countries would have escaped. China and India had no restrictions placed on them. In fact, China would have been the recipient of vast wealth transfers, hundreds of billions of dollars, from the U.S. supposedly so that China could use the money to implement pollution controls on its industry. Incidentally, if the U.S. failed to meet the targets of Kyoto, the treaty would have required American corporations to submit to micromanagement by an unelected, unaccountable international bureaucracy. Gosh, it's almost as if the Kyoto Protocols were designed to cripple and wreck the leading economies of the world, clearing the field for countries run by communists, despots and totalitarians.

    19. Re:Theory vs reality? by haruchai · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Europe's population has grown since 1990 but not as much.
      No, it's not a given that emissions would have increased because there was little effort made to rein them in. The advanced Western nations enjoy a similar standard of living as North America but use far less energy to do so. And all those countries are democracies.

      You may have missed the memo but China ate your lunch money anyway, to the tune of a couple TRILLION, mostly because you were sold on the idea of cheap shit and outsourced manufacturing - and US emissions increased, even per capita.
      If it wasn't the for overall efficiency and large population of California & New York holding down the per-capita numbers, America would the worst of the Western nations for CO2 emissions by any measure.

      And stop bitching about China & India having no restrictions - they were using only a fraction of the energy and resources despite their huge populations.
      But if America had the balls to dive wholeheartedly into finding solutions, then they could sell them to the developing nations.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    20. Re:Theory vs reality? by Nemyst · · Score: 2

      And last but by no means least: the trend is set well enough that you don't want to be trailing behind. You want to be the one others depend on for their new tech, not the reverse.

    21. Re:Theory vs reality? by Nemyst · · Score: 4, Insightful

      America's response to that is: can I make money off it next quarter? No? Not interested.

    22. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With so many replies to your post, my post will no doubt get buried. However, I will say this.

      Regardless of whether climate change/global warming is human caused or not. Regardless of whether we humans can fight climate change. LET'S STOP POLLUTION FOR IT'S OWN SAKE! Isn't that something we can agree on?

    23. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The US didn't cut emissions, they slowed growth of emissions and they hardly did it in an environmentally friendly way unless you think fracking is good for the environment.

    24. Re:Theory vs reality? by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      That doesn't really say what it says.. Well, it does but it is wrong.

      You see, it starts off in 1990. Germany was divided into 2 separate countries at that time. According to the EIA, ****IF the right selections do not appear, it is simple to make the selections on their tool and see the values by changing the dates and selecting the countries.

      Anyways, in 1988, east and west Germany combined to a total of 1009.618 million metric tons of Co2 emissions from energy use, in 1989, that went to 988.247 million metric tons. In 1990, it went to 981.634 where in 1991, it went to 928.950 million metric tons. That's almost a 81 million metric ton drop from combining east and west Germany into one state unit. In contrast, from 1991 until 2012, a little less then double that has been reduced or 141 million metric tons- give or take. So it took 3 years to drop half of what it took 21 years to reduce (while only 8 of those years being after the first Kyoto treaty in 1997 that went in effect in 2015) when East and West Germany became simply Germany.

      What am I trying to say with all this? Well let me get to the point. When Germany was two separate states, either records were flawed, estimated and inaccurate because they were absent, or purposely manipulated (espionage, cold war and such) that inflated numbers were recorded until the two countries combined. And while you would think that the numbers would rise as East Germans began having the abilities to upgrade their lifestyles and do more once the two countries became one again, but they fell even more- before the Kyoto protocol even was signed. Some of this may be shuttering inefficient generation plants that more efficient ones could make up for once the two countries power grids were connected, but the numbers in the early to mid 1990s were likely too high to match reality.

    25. Re:Theory vs reality? by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      That's a market thing not a country thing.

      In a capitalist society, any corporation or person can decide to cater to those markets whether the countries demand it or not.

      In fact, that is likely what will happen. US companies, or multinationals will enter those markets in Europe because they artificially exist and end up selling some products in the US because people- although in small numbers- want them. This will eventually end up creating a market in the US where more and more people want them through natural demand.

    26. Re:Theory vs reality? by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

      In my country dirty coal supplies most of the power, so electric cars might actually increase emissions.

      Does USA electricity come from "clean" sources? I guess Monty Burns supplies much of the energy from low-emission nuke reactors...

    27. Re:Theory vs reality? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Depending on the location, a lot of it comes from hydro. A lot of it comes from coal too, but the cars were being powered by oil before, so that's about the same.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    28. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The advanced Western nations enjoy a similar standard of living as North America but use far less energy to do so.

      There have been a number of studies comparing the standards of living of people in the U.S. and people in Europe. By virtually every measure - per capita living space, number of bathrooms, number of cars, air conditioning, heating, gasoline cost, number of tvs, indoor plumbing, hot water, disposable income, cost of food, etc. - U.S. citizens have a higher standard of living. This is especially true for the poor with people whom the U.S. government defines as below the poverty line enjoying a standard of living that is comparable to a middle class standard of living in Europe. Europeans, of course, will object saying that they receive all sorts of "free" government services so their lower disposable income really isn't so bad (psst Europe, the difference is freedom. If you have a lower disposable income and more gov services, that just means someone else gets to decide how your income is spent). Europeans do use less energy, partly because they produce less and partly out of necessity. The U.S. has vast domestic energy resources that most European countries can only look at with envy. Good thing too since Germany would have been a lot tougher to beat in WWII if it had had its own energy resources.

      You may have missed the memo but China ate your lunch money anyway

      Yep, China made great gains. Of course its easy to get double digit growth when going from a largely rural, pre-industrial to an early industrial, export driven economy with protected domestic markets.

      mostly because you were sold on the idea of cheap shit and outsourced manufacturing

      Actually, it was mostly due to the U.S. government jacking up corporate taxes and spoiling the business climate with onerous regulations. The socialists are taking over the U.S. and they crave an ever bigger piece of the private sector so as to have more money to buy votes with.

      Cheap shit is good too. Cheap shit means a rising standard of living. Also, China doing well does not mean that the U.S. is doing poorly. Economics is not a zero-sum game.

      and US emissions increased, even per capita.

      Due to a rising standard of living and, believe it or not, the U.S. still produces most of what it consumes.

      If it wasn't the for overall efficiency and large population of California

      Cali is hemorrhaging population and businesses. It's killing off entire industries including Hollywood. Why? Because welfare state handouts and uncontrolled immigration have given the Democrat Party complete political control of the state and the radical whack jobs in the DP are busily implementing every screwy idea they can come up with without fear of the DP losing political control of the state. As a consequence, normal people are leaving as are businesses who want to get out before the state government sucks them dry. It is the loss of people (actually, I think it's just growing more slowly in population than most states) and business that accounts for Cali's relative emissions performance, not efficiency.

      Maybe you didn't get the memo, but Cali experienced an energy panic not long ago and had to buy power at inflated prices from other states because the enviro-nuts have been interfering so much in the energy production sector. Also, Cali is experiencing a drought that has been made severe because the enviro-nuts have been interfering so much in water management policy.

      New York holding down the per-capita numbers

      New York City is the financial capital of the U.S. and the source of an outsized portion of political donations. As the U.S. gets more socialist, NYC delays its regression to Detroit-ness. Political influence and the stock market bubble created by the rampant printing of money by the Obama administration is making NY look li

    29. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LET'S STOP POLLUTION FOR IT'S OWN SAKE! Isn't that something we can agree on?

      Everyone already agrees on stopping pollution to a degree which varies depending on the wealth of their country. Reducing pollution is not free. A reduction from certain levels improves health and quality of life, but further reductions has diminishing returns. Additionally, most people in undeveloped countries would rather modernize and live with pollution than live poor and backward existences. Pollution can never be made zero unless either the definition of pollution is changed or society is de-industrialized.

      If you really want to minimize pollution, then you should promote free market economic policies so as to generate lots of wealth, some of the surplus of which can be used to reduce pollution.

       

    30. Re:Theory vs reality? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1
      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    31. Re:Theory vs reality? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Seven percent you say? I wonder why this graphic shows 7% - pretty much spot-on to the Kyoto target...

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    32. Re:Theory vs reality? by Schmorgluck · · Score: 1

      Fracking reduces CO2 emissions? Sounds quite counter-intuitive to me.

      --
      There's nothing like $HOME
    33. Re:Theory vs reality? by dunkelfalke · · Score: 0

      The sad reality is that the numbers probably don't lie. After the reunification East Germany was deindustrialised almost overnight. Even works that were competitive with West Germany ones were closed so they won't be.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    34. Re:Theory vs reality? by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Good catch, I hadn't thought of that. There likely was plenty of redundant industry that could have been shuttered when the wall came down.

    35. Re:Theory vs reality? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Germany is 1/3rd the way through it's transition to a non-nuclear powered grid. In the short term CO2 has risen, but renewable sources have also massively boomed. By the time they finish around 2024 they will have fewer coal and gas stations, and those that they do have will be producing less CO2 than the current older types. Plus, they will have vast amounts of renewable energy.

      Judge them on the planned end result, or wait until 2024 before making a determination. Otherwise you are just trying to claim that their 1/3rd finished project has already failed because it doesn't yet meet the design goals.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    36. Re:Theory vs reality? by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      Nope, I claim they've failed because their goals for 2024 are to emit more CO2 from electricity generation that France emits today, and more than France has been emitting since the 1990's.

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
    37. Re:Theory vs reality? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      If Germany's CO2 has risen this much after closing of the older nuclear plants, you're not going to want to be anywhere around after the remaining newer nukes are closed, as they plan to, by 2020, as it transitions to Full Unicorn.

    38. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think that's a lousy excuse. While there's a middle ground, we should still strive to reduce pollution rather than ignore it.
      Focus on electric cars and a less-polluting way of producing the electricity used for the cars.
      Start banning wood burning stoves unless it's the primary source of heat.
      Question whether letting recreational vehicles (jet-skies and such) should be allowed "on" one's drinking water.
      Etc.

      The more technological advanced countries should be aiming to helper the lesser advanced countries in terms of reducing pollution through, well, technology of course.

      Oh, another idea would be better public transportation. Although that's a very expensive and messy issue.

    39. Re:Theory vs reality? by haruchai · · Score: 1

      That's comparing the output from one year to another, in this case 2008 & 2009.

      I couldn't read the zoomed graphic but this PDF shows the same info: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sy...
      Recall that Kyoto required reductions of 6 GHGs, not just CO2 but measured in CO2-equivalents. The claims for the USA meeting those requirements are looking ONLY at CO2 when it's known that all that fracking has been releasing significant amounts of the much more powerful GHG, methane.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    40. Re:Theory vs reality? by haruchai · · Score: 1

      Compared to burning coal, natgas does release less CO2 but leaky wells allow a lot of methane to escape which makes the warming issue worse in the short-to-medium term.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    41. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Air conditioning ? number of tvs etc. That is how you judge standard of living? its all shit I have no need of! At least I can get medical treatment without going bankrupt.

    42. Re:Theory vs reality? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Given that French electricity is like 80% nuclear, you've just made a very tall order if you're really suggesting that they should top France in that area. (Not to mention the fact that the target is not comprised solely of electricity generation. Apparently, cars are one of the major issues.)

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    43. Re:Theory vs reality? by khallow · · Score: 1

      - And finally, treaties inherently do not have the force of law behind them.

      No. They can have the force of law and can override legislative law at both the federal and state levels.

    44. Re:Theory vs reality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      unless you croak before they get around to seeing you...

    45. Re:Theory vs reality? by haruchai · · Score: 1

      "By virtually every measure - per capita living space, number of bathrooms, number of cars, air conditioning, heating, gasoline cost, number of tvs, indoor plumbing, hot water, disposable income, cost of food"

      The gasoline cost in the Europe is because of taxes, same for the VAT on cars. But in most places, public transport is so good that most don't really need to drive, let alone own more than 1 car. US building standards, while getting better, have been shite for a long time and leaky buildings cost a lot to heat or cool.
      All those gas guzzlers that Americans have enjoyed driving since forever hasn't helped. And it's put a lot of money in the hands of people who'd just as soon see it wiped off the map.

      "This is especially true for the poor with people whom the U.S. government defines as below the poverty line enjoying a standard of living that is comparable to a middle class standard of living in Europe"

      For any one of the advanced Euro nations, it's nearly the opposite. Also there are a lot of EMPLOYED Americans who are deathly afraid of asking for a vacation whereas any working European can happily take 3-5 weeks off. A couple places even pay your MORE during your vacation to help defray vacation-related expenses
      http://www.forbes.com/sites/ta...
      http://www.cepr.net/documents/...

      And don't even try to bring up parental leave & childcare.

      "America is about the cleanest producer in the world, much cleaner than Europe. The key measure is emission per unit of industrial production, not the total emissions"
      ""the U.S. has only 4% of the world's population, but it produces 25% of greenhouse gases". What the educators leave out is that the U.S. produces 35% of the world's GNP so actually the U.S. is a very clean producer"

      Have a look at this graph
      In terms of CO2 emissions per purchasing power parity of GDP, it's well behind France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Germany......
      If you don't like that graph, you can try sorting this table

      ".....but the U.S. is still virtuous in its production and the way it guards the environment. The U.S. has nothing to be ashamed of on that front"

      Only because a lot of people put their asses on the line to change the way things used to be - and still are.
      There are still many oil spills and much coal sludge contamination to this day. Not to mention the fuckton of elected officials, mostly in "business-friendly" states who would change all that in a heartbeat and continually work to undermine the virtuous stewardship of the environment.

      I'm pleased to have given you the chance to rant & rag about NY & CA but the truth is both have been very good at keeping down the per-capita energy use for several decades.
      As to your point about the USA raising it's standard of living, so has everyone else - but no other advanced country in the G20 has done so by making workers find an extra 160 hours per year ( effectively adding a 13th month of full-time work ) since the 70s. In some, they work fewer hours than they did 40 yrs ago.

      And number of TVs?? Really? Why not add cellphones to the list? Except there are lots of other places where the phones & service are better & cheaper, right?

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    46. Re:Theory vs reality? by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Which isn't really difficult when the country in question is remarkably wasteful of energy...

    47. Re:Theory vs reality? by Mike+Van+Pelt · · Score: 1

      Actually, large coal plants are enough more efficient than the usual automobile internal combustion engine that, even with electrical losses along the way, there's less CO2 emission per mile with an electric car charged from electricity powered by a coal plant than from a gas car.

    48. Re:Theory vs reality? by Mike+Van+Pelt · · Score: 1

      I've had air conditioning. And I've had lack of air conditioning. Air conditioning in the summer is a very big improvement to quality of life in most of the United States. Maybe not so much in Sweden. But I do not live in Sweden.

  5. Peak Oil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe this is a cryptic way of telling the public that fossil-fuel production will decline 40% by 2030.

    1. Re:Peak Oil by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      The majority of greenhouse gasses come from transportation and electricity production. If everyone stayed home and we quit using air conditioning and heat the problem will be solved.

    2. Re:Peak Oil by ultranova · · Score: 1

      If everyone stayed home and we quit using air conditioning and heat the problem will be solved.

      Even if what you propose was physically possible, a hibernating society is not really a solution.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    3. Re:Peak Oil by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      Not that hard. 25 dollar a gallon gas tax and triple the price of electricity and people would have no choice except of course for the rich.

    4. Re:Peak Oil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While I wouldn't fight against it, we do have ways to power vehicles without pollution and simple ways to super-insulate buildings to keep them cool in the Summer and warm in the winter without using electricity/gas/oil. It isn't that hard, but there is a big industry, local governments, and construction workers against it.

    5. Re:Peak Oil by AqD · · Score: 1

      Yes, and you can go back to live in stone age.

      After a hundred years people in frozen caves will break tears hearing stories of how their ancestors once had great heaters, capable of heating the entire earth! But they dumped all these because it hurts their precious earth and lovely innocent animals!

    6. Re:Peak Oil by ultranova · · Score: 1

      Not that hard. 25 dollar a gallon gas tax and triple the price of electricity and people would have no choice except of course for the rich.

      Except rebel, of course. Which I'd have to do, since without heating I'd freeze to death in the winter, even if I'd be willing to suffer being under effective house arrest.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    7. Re:Peak Oil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope - they will hear that their ancestors had great resources that they use to warm their houses, but where to lazy to search for alternatives until it was too late. Then everything was used up, and now all that's left are frozen caves, no electricity and no industrial resources left to build the alternatives that could have saved them...

  6. Re: more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Really I had to use google to find out who you mean with benett. You should always add "frequent contributor" so that people know who is meant. Because then at least I know that he is a frequent contributor to slashdot, and contributes frequently.

  7. Why not? by oldhack · · Score: 1

    Why not 257%?

    --
    Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
    1. Re:Why not? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      That's the 22th century goal.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  8. Re: more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    His name is Bennett Hasselton. His name is Bennett Hasselton.

  9. not a problem by supernova87a · · Score: 2, Insightful

    WIth the way that European country economies are shrinking, we'll get to 40% carbon reduction with no trouble at all.

    1. Re:not a problem by Teun · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Strange statement, if it were true then how come countries like Denmark and Germany that spend a lot of money and resources on renewable energy are doing better than many other EU countries?

      PS, they don't shrink.

      --
      "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
    2. Re:not a problem by haruchai · · Score: 2

      "WIth the way that European country economies are shrinking, we'll get to 40% carbon reduction with no trouble at all."

      Go to the link below, scroll down until you find the table "EU Member States GDP growth rates" and scrutinize it carefully.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E...

      Greece is in serious trouble, Italy & Portugal have a lot of work & belt-tightening still to do and some other countries need to get their act together better.
      But that's about it.

      Go to the Google Public Data Explorer link below to see GDP rates since 1965
      http://www.google.ca/publicdat...

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    3. Re:not a problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably a poor example because Germany isn't actually doing very well right now and looks like it may actually go into recession, but I agree with your overall point.

  10. Should be easier now. by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Should be easier now.

    Recently Germany decided that their nuclear power plants weren't contaminating the environment enough so they decided to dump vastly more radioactive shit into the air around Europe.

    This came with a bunch of CO2. When they actually decide that radioactive contamination is bad, they can simply shut down the coal plants and start using nuclear again.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
    1. Re:Should be easier now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "going by 1990 levels"

    2. Re:Should be easier now. by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      But hey, Germany is promising to make its new generation of giant strip mines into lakes by 2100, when the unicorn farmss are in full production and they don't need to belch any more lignite smoke.

    3. Re:Should be easier now. by dave420 · · Score: 1

      In the immediate future, you are right. In the long term, however, Germany's power-plants will pollute a lot less. Wait for the end of the "Wende" before crying it's not working. It shows you either don't know what's going on, or simply just want to make a point in the face of the evidence.

    4. Re:Should be easier now. by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      In the long term, however, Germany's power-plants will pollute a lot less.

      How so? The power plants are spewing vast quantities of radioactive crap and heavy metals into the air. It's completly unconstrained. The nuclear waste can be properly disposed of, or recycled into new fuel. Germany has a very good record with nuclear safety.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  11. Two words - wind bag by Hognoxious · · Score: 0

    And voluminously. He's a voluminous contributor. The voluminousocity coefficientness of his contributions is of an expontially enormous magnitude.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  12. Re:more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your knee-jerk ignorance never fails to amaze and amuze me.

  13. China and USA - forget it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Totalitarian regimes like USA will never willingly agree to anything. China will not follow the suit either.

  14. Re:http://www.ezdictionary.net/arabic/index.html by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 0

    Heh. Here, let me just download an MSI installer whose instructions are all in Arabic. What's the worst that could happen?

  15. Re:more by Nimey · · Score: 0

    You just went full retard. You never go full retard.

    --
    Hail Eris, full of mischief...

    E pluribus sanguinem
  16. Re:Does it have teeth? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The so-called scientists

    Please post a list of your published papers that relate to climatology.

  17. Re:more by Mister+Liberty · · Score: 1

    We know what an Anonymous Coward is.
    But what is frof.
    What is Ureacrats.

  18. Start short-selling EU stocks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Without energy, the economy falters.

    1. Re:Start short-selling EU stocks by Teun · · Score: 1
      Indeed, start investing in countries where renewable energy is developed!

      Or stay behind.

      --
      "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
  19. Re:The bad news... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    Cutting greenhouse gasses by 40% will also cut jobs by 40%.

    Why should it? It's my understanding that a lot of areas of industry are actually reducing their energy expenses. Is Germany a country economically reliant of aluminum smelters (where the electrochemistry can't be cheated)? (And even here, let's forget for a moment conveniently that Dutch smelters are getting into market competition problems because of cheap German electricity anyway...)

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  20. Re:The bad news... by Teun · · Score: 1
    Why?

    All signs are that an increase in the price of polluting energy sources does not just boosts the development of alternatives but is especially making people and companies work more efficient.

    --
    "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
  21. Re:The bad news... by Culture20 · · Score: 2

    Cutting greenhouse gasses by 40% will also cut jobs by 40%.

    This is fallacious reasoning. You could replace some of the current energy production with human power: pushing a flywheel for room, board, and $1.50/hour. Unemployment would drop to nil! Of course productivity would reduce because overall energy production would be much less, but jobs are how the government measures economic success right now.

  22. Re:more by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It's roman_mir. He always goes full retard.

  23. ha ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They are having a giraffe - The Americans will just use it as another excuse why they don't need to cut theirs

  24. Point of no return. by seededfury · · Score: 1

    Cutting emission by 40% doesn't solve a problem that is already past the point of no return.

    1. Re:Point of no return. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cutting emission by 40% doesn't solve a problem that is already past the point of no return.

      OMG! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! QUICK, EVERYONE THROW THEMSELVES OFF A TALL BUILDING OR BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT. DON'T WAIT FOR THE HORRIBLE DEATHS DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE TO START HAPPENING. OH THE HUMANITY!

      Get a grip. There is no evidence of any kind that anything bad is happening to the climate, you damn gullible fool. Yeah, yeah, I know you're not normally a fool, but when someone comes along and tells you that you can escape your mediocre existence by joining the GRAND CAUSE of saving the Earth's climate, then you just somehow lose your ability to think rationally. Everyone wants to feel important, but letting yourself be hoodwinked by scamsters won't make you feel special in the end.

    2. Re:Point of no return. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only fools here are people like you.
      Burying their head in the sand while shouting: "I can't see anything, so nothing is wrong"...

  25. Vacation! by sycodon · · Score: 1

    I think vacations in Europe will be cheap a few years from now after their economies crash and the Dollar once again becomes worth more that the local currencies.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:Vacation! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then it'll be the other way around when oil price eventually skyrocket and the third world europe and its renewable gets less impacted.

    2. Re: Vacation! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sweet. Give us some more asshole muricans to steal from. Always better when the people mugged off are universally hated.

  26. Nucular by jhol13 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    And at the same time they dislike "nucular" 'cos it is ..., well, "nucular".

    I live in Northern Europe - for us this will mean insane regulations. Just insane.
    The people who we call "redgreen" (communistic-environmentalist-extremists) are the second biggest problem to earth. The biggest is exponential population growth. Global warming is somewhere aroung fifth to tenth - at least for us here in the north.

    1. Re:Nucular by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, more taxes and payments for owning and driving a car. Probably need to install fart purifiers and other crap like that. China will give no shit and USA won't give no shit either. Rest of the europe, middle east, africa will give no flying fuck about it.

    2. Re:Nucular by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Global warming will not be a picnic for you in the north. You'll witness a lot more pests who carry diseases you and your fauna/flora are simply not prepared for. Your land might be a better temperature for farming, but the soil will not be up to snuff and the yields will be poor. Even if the land was good, you lack the infrastructure to take advantage of it. Then there's also the distinct possibility of feedbacks caused by the cold north heating up, causing heating to accelerate. And none of this has even mentioned the weather, which will start to suck in ways you can't even imagine. But whatever - thinking is hard! burn moar coal!

    3. Re:Nucular by jhol13 · · Score: 1

      I have never claimed it would be a picnic. I just said it is nowhere near top five problems we are going to encounter, though it will be a problem.

      The claim "pests will conquer us" is a tad, well, one sided. We will get some "nice" immigration too - but the alarmists never mention those.
      Same with the weather, in every alarmist article it "will suck" or as you point it "there is a possibility"[1]. If the last five summers is any indication, the weather will *improve* considerably (for us humans, sure some "pests" might suffer).
      Furthermore I do not think we should burn coal, and in any case certainly should not burn oil, it is far too scarce and valuable and should be used only in mobile systems (planes, ships, cars to some extend).

      I wonder if you fear every other change too. New job? "But there is a distinct possibility it will suck". Getting married, buying house, going to a vacation, ...

      [1] And then not mentioning that the possibility is ridiculously small.

  27. That's not enough by mark-t · · Score: 1

    Because there will be more than double that number of cars on the road by that time, and so it will still result in a net increase. It's better than no cuts at all, but IMO,. they should be focusing on reducing emissions by at least 10% every single year to really stay ahead of the rate at which more cars are being added to roads... by the same time, at that rate, emissions would have been cut by about 80% off of what they are today.

    That would make a difference. Reducing by 40% over 16 years is just political posturing, not any serious attempt at wanting to make the future any better than the present.

    1. Re:That's not enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      40% represents all transportation going electric/fuel cell and at the same time power generation manage a 30% reduction despite now having to provide the transport sector with most of the transportation sectors new needs.

      I would say that's a pretty big goal.

    2. Re:That's not enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are welcome to invent fusion in a small enough package, that it fits in a car.

    3. Re:That's not enough by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Do you seriously feel that the only way to achieve 10% per year reduction in emissions is to invent portable fusion?

    4. Re:That's not enough by Talderas · · Score: 1

      /deadpan

      Yes.

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
    5. Re:That's not enough by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Why?

      I'm serious.

    6. Re:That's not enough by Talderas · · Score: 1

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D...

      Deadpan is a form of comic delivery in which humor is presented without a change in emotion or body language. It is usually spoken in a casual, monotone, or cantankerous voice, and expresses a calm, sincere, or grave demeanor, often in spite of the ridiculousness of the subject matter.

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
    7. Re:That's not enough by mark-t · · Score: 1

      I know what deadpan means... what I don't know is why portable fusion would be necessary to achieve 10% reduction in emissions per year.

  28. Suicidal move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    UE already emits per person half of what US or Russia emits.

    Cutting it down by another 40% is suicidal for the EU economy but:

    * Brits make money on emission trade
    * French make money on nuclear plants
    * Germans are eco-obsessed
    * Dutch are living below risin sea level
    * Chinese and Russian lobbists are all for the cuts in the EU

  29. Re:The bad news... by _Sharp'r_ · · Score: 1

    Nice try, but feeding people (or even draft animals) calories to perform manual labor produces more GHG than using more efficient methods like coal power plants. :)

    Not that there's anything wrong with more GHG production, but broken window fallacy and all that as well...

    --
    The party of stupid and the party of evil get together and do something both stupid and evil, then call it bipartisan.
  30. The year by WillKemp · · Score: 1

    How far do we have to get into the 21st century before you people stop putting "the year" in front of a year? What else could "by 2030" be referring to? It was arguably ok to write that in the first couple of years of the century, when people were still not used to years starting with "20", rather than "19", but it's not ok any more - it's redundant, clunky, and stupid.

    1. Re:The year by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

      I guess you don't know any "old people", then.

      My uncle, by marriage, was born in 1920. His creaky 94yo bones don't get around so well but he still remembers the 20s and 30s quite sharply.

    2. Re:The year by WillKemp · · Score: 1

      [......] he still remembers the 20s and 30s quite sharply.

      But does he read Slashdot? And, more relevantly, has he got used to the fact that years start with 20 now? The "anonymous reader" obviously hasn't.

      I remember the 1960s quite well, but even before the current century started, i was used to years starting with 20.

    3. Re:The year by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It could for example referring the whole decade. If they skip the "the year" I have no idea if they skipped the "s" too, or accidentally some other letters/words.

  31. Ireland by leereyno · · Score: 1

    Germany, Ireland, and the Czech Republic have entered into a mult-lateral agreement to fight the Leprechaun scourge and reduce the number of children replaced by fairy changelings by 2025.

    --
    Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
    1. Re:Ireland by Talderas · · Score: 1

      Luxembourg isn't involved? How queer.

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
  32. zOMG!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We broke th efuckin planet! We broke teh fuckin planet! :: Runs around flapping my arms like a faggot ::

    Save us, Algore! Save us!

  33. So, good news and bad news by russotto · · Score: 4, Funny

    The good news is the European nations just signed an economic suicide pact.

    The bad news is there's no way they'll actually keep to it.

    1. Re:So, good news and bad news by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Actually it's by far the best option for us, economically speaking.

      Saving energy is cheaper than adding new capacity. New capacity is insanely expensive - the UK has to guarantee more than 2x the going rate for electricity produced by new nuclear plants just to get them built. Since most of Europe has some kind of socialized healthcare it also adds huge costs to that when building more coal or increasing industrial pollution.

      In addition to that, clean and low power technology is where the world is heading. Between a desire not to wallow in our own shit and run everything off a battery for as long as possible, that's where the money is. Being at the forefront of the development of such technologies will keep Europe relevant.

      It reminds me of people moaning about money "wasted" on high speed rail development. Now many developing countries are trying to build it as fast as possible, and the only major suppliers in the world are the ones who got in early: Japan, France and Germany.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:So, good news and bad news by vlad30 · · Score: 1

      wish I had mod points but came to say exactly that, it has nothing to do with climate change those words just make some people feel better its all about reducing the imported energy and reducing reliance on what is becoming expensive and unreliable energy supply. The silly part I believe if they said the truth the conservatives would go great idea but the green and left wing would still demand imposible taxes to achieve goals that will come anyway

      --
      Your'e all thinking it, I just said it for you
    3. Re:So, good news and bad news by Xest · · Score: 1

      Except HS2 isn't about environmental improvements or any such daftness but entirely about palm greasing and now that the economic benefits have been wholly debunked it's just a case of no MPs being willing to admit they were wrong about it and do the right thing in cancelling the whole £50bn waste of money.

      The fact it runs right through various important nature reserves in fact causes massive damage to biodiversity because there are some species whose only habitats are going to be wiped out by it.

      Which isn't to say I'm personally against all high speed rail development, I think this morning's announced plans in the UK for more rapid links between cities like Leeds and Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester and so forth make an awful lot of sense because they can use existing paths, do no more damage, and be more efficient. But existing lines that HS2 is designed to replace/complement are already pretty efficient and pretty good - no one wants to get to London in 1hr 30mins instead of 1hr 53mins and then spend 20 minutes walking to the new stations that are far away from the old stations where people actually want to be.

      People don't bitch about high speed rail because they don't see the environmental benefits, they bitch about it because a lot of high speed rail plans are a complete farce. To put it another way, for the cost of HS2 we could fund the installation of free solar panels on half the houses in the country making them entirely self-powering whilst not destroying countless important protected natural habitats.

      So tell me again, how exactly is high speed rail not something we should bitch about? Long story short, if you want to see environmental benefits then there are about 50bn better alternatives than boondodggles like HS2. As it stands the destruction to habitat coupled with the massively polluting outputs of the sort of industrial development that cutting a whole new route across the country will require will ensure that HS2 will do net environmental damage.

      Writing off people who complain about high speed rail based on a spurious environmental argument is completely stupid when we in the UK have a perfect example of a really poor high speed rail plan that both does massive environmental harm and blows incredible amounts of money that could be used for everything from completion of fibre broadband rollouts nationwide, massive increases in renewable energy, two new nuclear plants, and still change left over to help fix the NHS funding gap or reduce our national debt a little. So yes, some high speed rail development is an astounding waste of money and yes it should be complained loudly about.

  34. Re:Does it have teeth? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The so-called scientists

    Please post a list of your published papers that relate to climatology.

    The "scientists" pushing climate change hysteria don't act like scientists, whatever their supposed authority on the matter. True science is completely transparent. True scientists welcome skeptics and directly address criticisms of their theories. The Michael Manns and Jim Hansens, etc. are neither transparent with regard to their work nor do they welcome skeptics and their critiques. Instead, the climate crisis ringleaders declare the science to be settled and smear and denounce their critics rather than directly responding to their concerns.

  35. Let's go nuclear. by Layzej · · Score: 2

    Here is environmentalist George Monboit embracing the deployment of nuclear power: http://www.monbiot.com/2013/12...

    Here is climate scientist James Hanson calling for the development and deployment of nuclear energy: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes....

  36. Re: more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Haselton. He is also a frequent contributor.

  37. Flaws Flaws Flaws by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For one the "Keeling Curve" and the equipment he sold to NOAA: Highly flawed and worthless.

    Kyoto Protocol: just a door stop in Al Gore's office in San Jose, and has nothing to do with CFCs and the Antarctic Ozone hole.

    Global Mean Sea Level Rise: not so rising lately and locally very variable to boot.

    Land-surface Temperatures: well now, they were rising much faster than the global average but have recently started a decline, Uh Oh!

    Ha ha fuckers!

  38. Re:The bad news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not that there's anything wrong with more GHG production!? Erm except for the whole climate change thing, sure!

  39. It's actually a goal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    to destroy industry and trade. That's all it does.

  40. Pain vs profit vs cost by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For the US and China to actually do anything, the Pain of not doing anything (severe weather, increased food prices due to lost crops, extreme fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, smog, premature deaths, rising sea levels and the extremes needed to prevent very expensive waterfront property from being washed away, seawalls needed, floodways, emergency services and greatly increased insurance rates), must meet or exceed the cost of doing something. There are oil lobbies keeping 'green tech' off the table, and keeping 'tasty oil' on the table, there are utilities that are making it more expensive or prohibitively expensive for people in the south to buy and use solar panels, and profiteers are buying land 2 meters higher on the oceans, ready to sell to the next highest bidder. That's what will change their minds. China will put up with crazy amounts of smog and significantly reduced life expectancies and still won't kick the coal habit.

  41. Re:The bad news... by sumdumass · · Score: 1

    Of course artificially inflating the costs of energy makes companies and employees more efficient. That is because they have to compete with outside sources who are not burdened with the artificial costs or risk going under.

    If everyone in the word was subject to the exact same costs increases, it would only become inflation and the world would move on just the same. Instead when only part of the world has to deal with increased costs, they have options to consider, either becoming more efficient, paying less for labor, materials, or whatever else is a cost, or escaping the costs increases altogether by moving to an area without the increased costs (offshoring). Presumably, the last option is a last resort because leadership of these companies will not want to move.

    Is it any wonder that EU countries have more than tripled their imports from China within the last 10 years? In the last 20 years, trade with China and the EU countries went from almost nothing to over 428 billion a year in 2013. Of that 428 billion, only 148 billion is exported from EU countries while 279 billion was imported into them.

    But keep on increasing costs, China and India and all the other countries like the concept.

    http://trade.ec.europa.eu/docl...

  42. Re:The bad news... by Teun · · Score: 1
    So you mean the US did not see a similar or at least significant increase in imports from China because the US doesn't have the same strict regulations as Europe.

    Sure some Chinese imports are cheaper due to their lacking environmental concerns but the vast majority had to do with people there working for peanuts, a situation that's rapidly changing.

    --
    "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
  43. Compromise? by MyDirtIsRed · · Score: 0

    Usually when one side says something is too aggressive, and the other side says it's not aggressive enough, it's probably right where it needs to be.

  44. The year by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    when do you stop writing the decade down? I started by writing '4 this year, next year '5.

  45. Piece of crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Carbon footprint = oxymoron
    Global warming = piece or crap
    CO2 - is good for your plants
    Go read official intergovernmental commission report on this crap - there is no observation of any change in weather patterns that could indicate change in climate
    I do have my Univercity degree in meteorology.
    No kids, go to your other tv inspired memes, like pals and gringos

    1. Re:Piece of crap by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Carbon footprint = measurable thing
      Global warming = demonstrated beyond doubt (to most)
      CO2 = some is good for your plants, too much will hurt them (and you)

      For someone with a "univercity" degree in meteorology you sure as heck don't know what you're talking about. Also, meteorology != climate science. You should know that if you have the degree you state you do.

  46. Hydro? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do they count hydro power as renewable? In the USA some states do and some do not. I think it is. If they do count it then count on the Balkans with their massive untapped and undeveloped hydro to get the lions share of development.

  47. When did "Global Warming" become "Climate change"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When did the name change from "Global Warming" to "Climate Change"? Seriously. I guess the name changed when it became apparent that the so called "pause" was really a peak. Kind of a scummy scam name change because the climate is always changing from ice age to inter glacial and we are overdue for out next bout in the freezer.

    So hey lets blame "climate change" on CO2 because nobody would ever take us seriously if we started blaming "global cooling" on CO2 after decades of telling everyone that it caused the late 20th century warming. Nice and ambiguous, underhanded, low life type manoeuvre and typical of the political non-scientific basis for advancing their political agenda.

    If you want to read a great explanation of why the IPCC models are broken beyond belief there was a great article describing that and all the other problems with climate science by Dr Brown of Duke university

    http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/10/06/real-science-debates-are-not-rare/

    Read it and weep all you warmistas! You've been had, played like a fiddle and about to be discarded and all your hard sincere work thrown aside by the scum who conned you. Why do you continue to support this totally failed idea that CO2 controls the climate? You've been had. Get over it, get mad and get even with those who took you in.

  48. Finally grounding the Royals by JimNoord · · Score: 0

    Bony prince chuck and his noble steed should stay in Transylvania and quit burning jet fuel. Sell the castles and other real estate and repay the USA for lend lease in WWII. They'd be eating kraft and sausage if not for USA. And for the rest of the countries....time to pony up the cash. You've had 50+ years of peace and prosperity on our dime. Pay up!!

  49. Re:When did "Global Warming" become "Climate chang by dave420 · · Score: 1

    "Global warming" = the warming of the globe
    "Climate change" = the changes to the climate the warming causes

    The pause doesn't exist, either. You stating that it does (and expecting to be taken seriously) shows you are woefully ignorant of the science, and desperate to not learn. Did you know you can ignore all the models and anthropogenic warming is still very much evident?

    You're the one who's been had. You are arguing against trying to protect the world that you are leaving to future generations, and paying more for in the process.

    When will you get over it, get mad, and get even with those who took you in? Oh, you won't, as you're too lazy to even bother to learn. What a surprise.

  50. Re:When did "Global Warming" become "Climate chang by GuB-42 · · Score: 1

    They changed the name from "Global warming" to "Climate change" for PR reasons, the underlying principles are still the same.
    Global warming means the average temperature of the globe raises by a small amount. And people would assume that the only thing that would change is that temperatures will raise by a few degrees. Except that it may not match local observations (hey, this winter is colder than the previous one) and even if it was, it would be mostly viewed as something desirable (who likes freezing cold winters ?).
    In reality, global warming would result in more extreme weather, sea level rise, a redistribution of local cold and hot areas rather than a steady raise in temperatures everywhere. Hence "climate change".