January 9, 2009
By Steve Coll
Think Tank
On January 8, 2009, Chairman and chief executive of ExxonMobil Corp., Rex W. Tillerson delivered a speech in Washington concerning the carbon taxes which could reduce the emissions of carbon. He believe that a carbon tax of 20 dollars per ton is a better way to address global warming than the cap-and-trade system currently being discussed by the Obama administration. Many large corporations are changing their opposition to climate change accusations and hope to influence the policies and mechanisms which will be decided by Congress. ExxonMobil has in the past funded global warming skeptics, but has come a long way to change that. Its new proposal is credible and proposes a real plan to change the emission levels over the next decade. Last year, the Congress considered a bill regarding cap-and- trade policies, but rejected it due to its complexity. The basic idea behind cap-and-trade bills is to regulate carbon emissions by creating a regulated marketplace in which polluting firms can buy and sell emissions while joining aggregate caps. It could offer an enforceable total-emission target. On the other hand, the system would become very complex and difficult to administer as well as subject to abuses. There are also different views on Europe's experiment with cap-and-trade bills.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
U.S. holds cards close at climate talks
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
(Bonn)
Published April 9, 2009 in the International Herald Tribune
Earlier this month, U.S representative Jonathan Pershing, deputy special envoy for climate change gave new hints on the new policies adopted by the Obama government concerning climate destabilization. A detailed proposal would be submitted by the end of the month. One of the major goals of the new policies is to reduce emissions to the 1990 levels by 2020. Mr. Pershing praised the EU's efforts and proposals on the subject but doesn’t believe that the United States will follow the same path. This is mainly due to different political and social capacities, and this could slow down the proposals as well as the immediate actions. While Pershing and his administration were short on figures and proposals in Bonn, they promised to return in June with a solid plan. However, the public has been told that numbers of how much emissions would be reduced by and by when, should not be expected by this summer. They will be determined later by Congress. This is the first appearance of the Obama administration in a global climate meeting and some were disappointed of the United states' unpreparedness. However, we should note that the United States has declined any kind of plan or proposal for the past 8 years, under the Bush administration, concerning the reduction of greenhouse gases. The plan to reduce emissions back to the 1990 levels was not enough for some developing countries, and they proposed to have the United States reduce their emissions by 48% by 2022. The U.N is waiting on the United States' decision and are impatient to see which side the US adopts.
(Bonn)
Published April 9, 2009 in the International Herald Tribune
Earlier this month, U.S representative Jonathan Pershing, deputy special envoy for climate change gave new hints on the new policies adopted by the Obama government concerning climate destabilization. A detailed proposal would be submitted by the end of the month. One of the major goals of the new policies is to reduce emissions to the 1990 levels by 2020. Mr. Pershing praised the EU's efforts and proposals on the subject but doesn’t believe that the United States will follow the same path. This is mainly due to different political and social capacities, and this could slow down the proposals as well as the immediate actions. While Pershing and his administration were short on figures and proposals in Bonn, they promised to return in June with a solid plan. However, the public has been told that numbers of how much emissions would be reduced by and by when, should not be expected by this summer. They will be determined later by Congress. This is the first appearance of the Obama administration in a global climate meeting and some were disappointed of the United states' unpreparedness. However, we should note that the United States has declined any kind of plan or proposal for the past 8 years, under the Bush administration, concerning the reduction of greenhouse gases. The plan to reduce emissions back to the 1990 levels was not enough for some developing countries, and they proposed to have the United States reduce their emissions by 48% by 2022. The U.N is waiting on the United States' decision and are impatient to see which side the US adopts.
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