A few more storms like Typhoon Haiyan may finally make our leaders act on climate change
[VV note: We doubt it.]
By Jeffrey D. Sachs, WashPost, Published: November 15
Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, is the author of “The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity.”
By some early measures, Typhoon Haiyan — which ripped through the Philippines and claimed thousands of lives — is the strongest storm on record to make landfall. But mega-storms like Haiyan and Hurricane Sandy are just one of the many warnings that we are flying toward climate disaster.
In the past couple of years, the United States has experienced the worst East Coast flooding in decades, as well as the most intense and largest drought in decades; 2012 was the warmest year on record in the lower 48 states. Massive forest fires have blazed throughout the drought-ridden West.
Globally, the number of weather-related catastrophes has roughly doubled since 1980 , according to comprehensive data collected by the insurance company Munich Re. There is more bad news to come: rising sea levels, more-acidic oceans and more climate-related disasters.
Through all of this, Congress sits supine. And it’s no mystery why: The oil and gas industry has spent about $1.5 billion on registered lobbying in the past 15 years and hundreds of millions on federal campaign contributions. This industry largesse has helped bury climate-change information and policies, while the United States and the world suffer ever more disasters. Yet this paralysis could end soon — just a few more big storms, droughts and heat waves are likely to trump the oil industry’s big bucks.
(More here.)
By Jeffrey D. Sachs, WashPost, Published: November 15
Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, is the author of “The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity.”
By some early measures, Typhoon Haiyan — which ripped through the Philippines and claimed thousands of lives — is the strongest storm on record to make landfall. But mega-storms like Haiyan and Hurricane Sandy are just one of the many warnings that we are flying toward climate disaster.
In the past couple of years, the United States has experienced the worst East Coast flooding in decades, as well as the most intense and largest drought in decades; 2012 was the warmest year on record in the lower 48 states. Massive forest fires have blazed throughout the drought-ridden West.
Globally, the number of weather-related catastrophes has roughly doubled since 1980 , according to comprehensive data collected by the insurance company Munich Re. There is more bad news to come: rising sea levels, more-acidic oceans and more climate-related disasters.
Through all of this, Congress sits supine. And it’s no mystery why: The oil and gas industry has spent about $1.5 billion on registered lobbying in the past 15 years and hundreds of millions on federal campaign contributions. This industry largesse has helped bury climate-change information and policies, while the United States and the world suffer ever more disasters. Yet this paralysis could end soon — just a few more big storms, droughts and heat waves are likely to trump the oil industry’s big bucks.
(More here.)
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