America: Step up on climate change

Global warming is the nuclear issue of our age.

from the December 31, 2007 edition

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Our per capita emissions rate looks even worse: It is more than twice that of the advanced economies of Japan or the European Union, more than five times that of China, and 20 times India's. Clearly, as we ask other countries to cut back their emissions, we should also be ready to credibly promise that we will be making deep reductions of our own.

America's environmental policy also matters deeply because climate change has become such a critical issue in world affairs. The world's 6 billion non-Americans, and their governments, will be carefully monitoring whether Washington participates fully in the technological and lifestyle transformation that will be required to reduce emissions in the years ahead – and whether we deal fairly with other countries as we do so.

Leaders from Europe and many other regions have expressed harsh criticisms of the Bush administration's tendency to "go it alone" on climate issues. Officials in China, India, and other low-income countries argue, not unreasonably, that their citizens also deserve the chance to have lifestyles similar to those of Americans and Europeans. They argue that concerns about climate change should not be used to deny them that chance.

If all these aspirations are to be met and the Earth's climate is to be saved, it will require far-reaching changes in how modern societies organize their economies: in how we generate power, manufacture and transport goods, design cities, farm, and use forests. No one country can on its own foster and finance the level of innovation required. Nations need to allocate the tasks and responsibilities involved in a way that is equitable, inclusive, and sustainable. The UN's big post-Bali negotiation, which will last two years, will be the main forum for this effort.

The Bush administration is now, after Dobriansky's Bali U-turn, on board with this process. In mid-December, too, Congress adopted its boldest plan to date to reduce GHG emissions – but it still did not go far enough. And in a separate provision, Congress continued its practice of giving hefty subsidies to coal and oil producers.

That's why all Americans – from the grass roots to the presidential candidates – must now intensify the national conversation about what we want our country's role to be in the global climate negotiations of 2008 and 2009.

Climate change now looks set to be the same kind of touchstone issue in global politics that nuclear weapons has been since 1945. As with nuclear weapons, the threats posed by climate change know no national boundaries. They could, in some circumstances, threaten all of human life. As with nuclear weapons, good-faith international cooperation is a must if the climate problem is to be brought under control.

The people of the rest of today's richly interconnected world will be monitoring Washington's performance carefully. How will Americans and our leaders respond?

Helena Cobban is a "Friend in Washington" with the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Her views are her own.

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