Score One for Cooler Heads

Posted by PBS Mind | It's no secret by now that the Bush Administration's favorite way of dealing with trouble – or even with anything they don't want to think about or which doesn't go along with their peculiar world view – is to ignore it as long as possible. And it's become evident that their respect for the law is predicated on convenience.

So it should come as no surprise to you that the Bush Administration has been conveniently (there's that word again) ignoring (oh, and that one, too) a 1990 law that requires the United States Government to assess and report on global-warming data. Fortunately for us, someone was watching.

Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the Center for Biological Diversity got together and sued the administration for violating the law -- and this week, they won (read WaPo on this subject). A United States District Court ruled the law had been violated, and the government must produce not only an assessment of the most recent data, but a plan to guide government global-warming research.

The administration claims it's working on 21 reports about global warming and starting a 22nd, but I suspect absent the court's prodding, my beard would grow down to my knees before the reports were actually finished or issued. But that's beside the point, and here's why:

The reports are being worked on by the Climate Change Science Program (one of the results of a Bush initiative). Here, from its own report, are its stated goals:

 

CCSP Goal 1: Improve knowledge of the Earth's past and present climate     and environment, including its natural variability, and improve understanding of the causes of observed variability and change.

 

CCSP Goal 2: Improve quantification of the forces bringing about changes     in the Earth's climate and related systems.

 

CCSP Goal 3: Reduce uncertainty in projections of how the Earth's climate     and related systems may change in the future.

 

CCSP Goal 4: Understand the sensitivity and adaptability of different natural and managed ecosystems and human systems to climate and related global changes.

 

CCSP Goal 5: Explore the uses and identify the limits of evolving     knowledge to manage risks and opportunities related to climate variability     and change.

Ok, now, is it just me, or is there NOTHING in there that actually requires anyone to do anything about the problem? These goals are all about understanding, and quantifying, and modeling, and exploring, and spinning -- oh, excuse me, I meant "reducing uncertainty." Apparently it's quite all right for the planet to become further endangered as long as we know everything there is to know about it.

But let's not stop there. Let's look at the stated goals of Bush's "Climate Change Research Initiative" as well:

1. Reduce scientific uncertainty in three key areas of climate science: 

• Develop reliable representations of the climatic forcing resulting from   atmospheric aerosols. Aerosols and tropospheric ozone play unique, but  poorly quantified, roles in the atmospheric radiation budget. Proposed activities include field campaigns (including aircraft missions), in situ monitoring stations, improved modeling, and satellite data algorithm development. 

• Improve our understanding of the global carbon cycle (sources and sinks). CCRI funds will be targeted for activities to carry out the integrated North American Carbon Program (NACP), a key element of the U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan. This program will improve monitoring techniques, reconcile approaches for quantifying carbon storage, and elucidate key processes and land management practices regulating carbon fluxes between the atmosphere  and the land and ocean.   

 

Increase our knowledge of climate feedback processes . Poor understanding of "climate feedbacks" -- key interactions among two or more components of the climate system, such as clouds, water vapor, ocean circulation, or sea ice -- are responsible for large uncertainties in our ability to reliably predict climate variability and change. CCRI will prioritize activities to support increased understanding of feedback processes.

2. Enhance and expand observations of the Earth system. CCRI efforts will contribute to and benefit from the design and operational implementation over the next 10 years of a new international, integrated, sustained, and comprehensive global Earth observation system to minimize data gaps and maximize the utility of existing observing networks.

 

 3. Increase our climate modeling capacity. CCRI will support continued development and refinement of computational climate models. Priority activities will focus on improving model physics (particularly with respect to clouds and aerosols), increasing resolution of climate model simulations, improving methods to assimilate observations into model analyses and predictions, and exploring limits to predictability of climate variability and change. CCRI will also support development of climate modeling to provide routine model products for policy and management decision support.

Once again, we're modeling, developing representations, understanding, increasing our knowledge -- in short, doing nothing of any real value to combat the problem.

Then there's the Climate Change technology program (the alleged "doing" arm attached to the two "research" arms listed above. Now, its goals are great -- check 'em out:

• Goal 1. Reduce Emissions from Energy End-Use and Infrastructure
• Goal 2. Reduce Emissions from Energy Supply
• Goal 3. Capture and Sequester Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)
• Goal 4. Reduce Emissions of Non-CO₂ Greenhouse Gases
• Goal 5. Improve Capabilities to Measure and Monitor GHG Emissions
• Goal 6. Bolster Basic Science Contributions to Technology Development

And then you read further and find the list of  "core approaches" to ostensibly lead to the  achievement of these goals:

• Approach 1. Strengthen climate change technology R&D
• Approach 2. Strengthen basic research at universities and Federal research facilities
• Approach 3. Enhance opportunities for partnerships
• Approach 4. Increase international cooperation;
• Approach 5.  Support cutting-edge technology demonstrations;
• Approach 6.  Ensure a viable technology workforce of the future through education and training; and
• Approach 7. Explore and provide, as appropriate, supporting technology policy.

And we're once again back to R&D and exploring and understanding and so forth. I especially like #4 (I wonder what the Kyoto participants think of that), #5 (demonstrations, but nothing about actual development support), and #6 (no scientist left behind?).

I absolutely applaud Greenpeace et al. for their victory. But I'd be surprised if they expected any real progress on this issue from this administration – any more than I do.

Comments

[Frigga]

The Earth may go through periods of warming and cooling, but it's absolutely absurd to believe humans could have any cause. The real cause is the sun, always has been.
That was my opinion. :-)

I stopped by to let you know I posted the results of my TT13 Song Q's
It's up at http://anyapples.blogspot.com/