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Most people willing to make sacrifices for climate
AEN News
Houston - Most people throughout the world are willing to make sacrifices to improve our climate. But just how much people will sacrifice to fight global warming is still unknown, though a poll shows most people will go along with taxation if the money is spent to improve the environment through better technology.
Most people willing to make sacrifices for climate
Houston - Most people throughout the world are willing to make sacrifices to improve our climate. But just how much people will sacrifice to fight global warming is still unknown, though a poll shows most people will go along with taxation if the money is spent to improve the environment through better technology.
In Canada, many people are willing to accept higher taxes and changes in their personal lifestyle to combat global warming. But sacrifices for climate change could have a price tag too high to bare unless more people throughout the world are willing to go along with it.
According to a new poll conducted by Globescan for the BBC, people from 21 countries throughout the world, including the United States and China - the two biggest global polluters - are willing to make personal sacrifices to improve the Earth's climate - more so than their own governments.
In all, 22,000 people were polled and while the overall number of climate poll respondents isn't enough to say that the vast majority of people living in those 21 countries would agree to sacrifices to improve the climate, the fact that the British Broadcasting Corporation brought the concern over global warming to the forefront does show that many people throughout the world are concerned. Concerned enough to say they would make personal sacrifices to combat global warming, though just how far they're willing to go is another matter entirely.
It was interesting to note that in China, where air pollution is threatening the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, 85 percent of those polled said they would favor some form of global tax to combat climate change. As China's economic boom is underway, the fact that the limitations of personal income didn't stand in the way of people living there to say they would go along with some form of green tax to improve the environment, implying their willingness to make personal sacrifices for the climate were strong enough China's government just might take that as a signal to clean up their greenhouse gas emissions problems.
Americans were also more willing to make personal sacrifices for the climate, more so than their government. According to an announcement released by Globescan, 79 percent of Americans agree that lifestyles in the United States will have to change and 65 percent say that energy costs will have to rise. But when it comes to an additional green tax on coal and fossil fuels, the results were mixed. Only 46 percent of Americans polled said they were willing to pay an environmental tax on fossil fuels, but this number rises to 74 percent - if the funds are used to promote the development of new fuels or improve the efficiency of existing technologies, an outlook that the Bush administration has taken in its discussions with the European Union's leaders.
Generally, poll respondents were mixed when it came to taxing fossil fuels, which is suspect of being a key contributor to global warming. Of those polled, 50 percent were in favor of taxing fossil fuels while 44 percent were opposed. That opposition suggests that most poll respondents felt a global tax on fossil fuels would equate to higher gasoline prices and home heating oil, which would directly affect their personal expenditures that implies they didn't want a consumption tax of that manner.
While most of the climate poll's respondents were against taxing fossil fuels outright, not knowing how those funds would be spent, the personal sacrifices for the climate people were willing to make shows that they generally believe their governments aren't doing enough about it.
Doug Miller, director of Globescan, was quoted as saying, "People are much more ready to endure their share of the burden than most politicians grant."
Steven Kull, Director with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland, which participated in the preparation of Globescan's climate poll said, "People around the world recognize that climate change requires that people change their behavior. And that to provide incentives for those changes there will need to be an increase in the cost of energy that contributes to climate change."
Miller noted that, "The key requirement is that their citizens trust that the resulting tax revenues will be invested in addressing climate change by increasing energy efficiency and developing cleaner fuels."
The climate poll was released to coincide with BBC World Service's week of programming on climate change, "Taking the Temperature" during which the impact of the events and negotiations on climate change throughout the year will be assessed.
Used tags: climate_change, climate_change_mitigation, global_warming, green_house_gases, reducing_emissions
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Monday 28 January 2019 at 03:31 am
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Saturday 16 July 2011 at 06:07 am
Raging wildfires: Climate changes to blame for record season?
By Pete Spotts
The images are stark: soot-grimed firefighters steering bulldozers or wielding shovels to clear underbrush; curtains of orange flame tracing the contours of summits; aircraft dumping chemicals to slow a fire's progress.
Between Jan. 1 and early July of 2011, slightly more than 38,000 wildfires charred the landscape in the United States at a record pace. So far this year, wildfires have consumed just under 4.9 million acres of forest and grassland, a cumulative expanse the size of New Jersey.
That's 1 million more acres than fires consumed during the same period in 2006, which saw a record 9.9 million acres burned for the entire year.
Beyond the numbers, this year's fires may provide the first large-scale tests of the effectiveness of projects undertaken over the past decade to help forests survive wildfires, several specialists say.
The West's forests are adapted to deal with certain types of wildfires, researchers note. But since the mid-1980s, they add, some of these forests have experienced an increasing number of fires to which they are not well adapted.
Many researchers trace this shift in part to climate change.
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Sunday 22 May 2011 at 01:14 am
Hybrid Moves Into Housing
By Brenda Krueger Huffman
(Chicago) – Recycling - Check. Conserving energy - Check. Hybrid car - Next car, check. Hybrid home system - What? Yes, it’s here. Hybrid has seamlessly, successfully moved into housing.
Safety Power, Inc. was initially started to provide homes with back up power. The company quickly grew to include renewable energy options and advising commercial and industrial clients with electrical conservation. Recently the company has come full circle and began marketing a new more capable type of renewable energy system for homes.
The award winning firm was voted one of the “Top 5 Sustainable Product Companies in Illinois” and continues to grow its residential client base in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Safety Power also serves larger firms on the national level.
Robert Brazzale, President of Safety Power, a master electrician turned entrepreneur, began Safety Power in 2007. An avid member of Local First Chicago, Rob believes in assisting sustaining local economies with green collar jobs and belongs to many green orientated groups in Chicago and around the country.
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Tuesday 29 March 2011 at 11:12 am
Are electric car makers missing the trick?
by Martin Ott
I believe that electric car makers may be driving us all down the road that may result in the same sort of technology failures that we have seen in the past.
I'm not referring to the Sinclair scooter here but cast your mind back to the débâcle of Betamax v VHS home recording systems. The eventual winner was the technically inferior VHS but the battle was not resolved until innumerable consumers had paid out for worthless Betamax systems. Back in the 70's a similar conflict occurred over audio systems when America fell in love with the 8 track tape system that moved magnetic tape in a loop over the player head at a high speed resulting in a better sound. The world market finally dictated that the audio cassette was the way to go but not until millions of consumers had been lumbered with home and in-car systems that went down the technological cul de sac.
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Tuesday 29 March 2011 at 10:57 am
by Suresh Varma
The Theni Wind Farm project was developed by CLP India Pvt. Ltd., one of the major wind farm project developers in India. Located in the south western part of Tamilnadu, a southern state of the country, the facility consists of 60 Vestas V82 geared wind turbines. As recognition of its contribution towards the successful execution of this wind power project SGS received Vestas award.
Each turbine at the wind farm has a capacity of 1.65 MW IEC Class IIB machine with a blade diameter of 82 m. After a six-month long completion period, the Theni Wind Farm was officially opened in May, 2010.
Acting as contract engineer during project execution, SGS was responsible for ensuring that all activities were carried out at the site by the contractor in line with the final agreement. In doing so, SGS supervised the quality of construction works, the fulfillment of the technical parameters and kept the project within the scheduled time and contracted price.
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Tuesday 29 March 2011 at 10:37 am
E.ON uses PPC's Broadband Powerline technology in smart grid project
by Power Plus Communications
Mannheim - Power Plus Communications AG (PPC), the leading provider of Broadband Powerline Communication systems (BPL) for smart grids has taken on a key role within an E.ON smart grid project to facilitate an extension of Cisco's Connected Grid Solution.
E.ON Westfalen Weser AG is currently trialing smart grid technology within its network of 1.3 million inhabitants and PPC's proven medium voltage BPL solution has connected substations in the project using the existing power grid.
Using BPL technology, standard compliant and IP-based data transfer rates of 5-30 Mbit/s can easily be achieved via the medium voltage cable itself. Within E.ON’s smart grid project, PPC's medium voltage technology facilitated the extension of Cisco's Connected Grid Solution. The Cisco smart grid Router and Switches used in the project are highly compatible with BPL networks, providing a real cost advantage over fiber optic networks – which can be much more expensive where cables are not pre-existing.
By combining their technology at Westfalen Weser, PPC and Cisco have ensured the evolution of fast and efficient smart grids which are controlled on an IP basis. This increases the reliability of the power grid, fulfills regulations and drives down costs. At the same time this modern smart grids communications technology makes it possible to effectively integrate renewable energy into the grid.
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Saturday 19 February 2011 at 09:02 am
By Brenda Krueger Huffman
Chicago – Perhaps moving to the center is where we all need to be politically on the environment and effective spending compatibility. Not all green technology is crazy, and not all business profit or government expenditure is evil.
Even if you do not believe in man caused climate change, we can all agree leaving a cleaner planet and a more fiscally responsible government for the next generation is preferable to not doing so.
Perhaps green technology can be cost effective, and government fiscal responsibility may realistically include affordable green initiatives. Honest “life cycle analysis” and “life cycle cost analysis” study considerations should be a political compromise starting point both the left and the right can embrace.
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Thursday 27 January 2011 at 11:05 am
Global warming: Impact of receding snow and ice surprises scientists
By Pete Spotts
Washington - A long-term retreat in snow and ice cover in the Northern Hemisphere is weakening the ability of these seasonal cloaks of white to reflect sunlight back into space and cool global climate, according to a study published this week.
Indeed, over the past 30 years, the cooling effect from this so-called cryosphere – essentially areas covered by snow and ice at least part of the year – appears to have weakened at more than twice the pace projected by global climate models, the research team conducting the work estimates.
The study, which appeared online Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience, represents a first cut at trying to calculate from direct measurements the impact of climate change on the Northern Hemisphere's cryosphere. The study was conducted by a team of federal and university scientists who examined data gathered between 1979 and 2008.
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Wednesday 05 January 2011 at 10:38 pm
By Mark Clayton
Washington - Setting the stage for a New Year battle royal between Congress and the White House over greenhouse gas emissions, the US Environmental Protection Agency Thursday laid out a timetable for the nation's largest carbon emitters – power plants and refineries – to begin curbing those pollutants.
Republicans have said all year that they plan to pull out all the stops to keep the EPA from phasing in greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations beginning in 2011, saying they would damage the energy industry, raise prices, and cost jobs.
Rep. Fred Upton (R) of Michigan, the incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has said he opposes the regulations on greenhouse gases and indicated he would lead efforts to revoke EPA regulations in the next Congress. The new regulations, he says, will likely lead to the shut down of coal-fired power plants.
"To protect jobs and fortify our energy security, we should be working to bring more power online, not shutting plants down," Mr. Upton said in a statement. "We are woefully unprepared to meet our nation's growing energy demands, yet this administration's 'none of the above' energy policy will do nothing but cost jobs, make energy more expensive, and increase our dependence on foreign sources of energy."
Environmentalists lauded the EPA's move.
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Monday 13 December 2010 at 03:21 am
By Warren Richey,
Washington - The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a major environmental lawsuit that seeks to force six electric power companies to cap and reduce their carbon-dioxide emissions to fight global warming.
The lawsuit - filed in 2004 by eight states, the City of New York, and three land trusts - targets what it claims are the largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the United States and among the largest in the world.
It seeks a judicial order declaring that the fossil-fueled power plants are a "public nuisance." It also seeks a judicial order capping the plants' greenhouse gas emissions and requiring the plants to adopt a schedule of reduced emissions in future years.
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