“Action This Day” is what Winston Churchill demanded in his World War II memos. That’s what the National Academies are calling for in their fifth and final report on America’s Climate Choices. Their press release said the report, prepared by a blue-ribbon panel of the National Research Council, “… reiterated the pressing need for substantial action to limit the magnitude of climate change and to prepare to adapt to its impacts.”
The four-page brief notes that progress is being made by sub-national actors in the US, but that these are “…not likely to yield progress comparable to what could be achieved with the addition of strong federal policies that establish coherent national goals and incentives, and that promote strong U.S. engagement in international-level response efforts.” I have many times noted the inroads that the Obama Administration has been making, including EPA’s regulatory regime, but the report is unequivocal in calling for a “price on carbon.” The brief says “The most effective way to amplify and accelerate current state, local, and private sector efforts, and to minimize overall costs of meeting a national emissions reduction target, is with a comprehensive, nationally uniform price on CO2 emissions, with a price trajectory sufficient to drive major investments in energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies.” The executive branch can’t do that. Congress has to do that.
The report also calls for adaptation efforts to begin now. “Prudent risk management involves advanced planning to deal with possible adverse outcomes—known and unknown—by increasing the nation’s resilience to both gradual climate changes and abrupt disaster events.” If you think the drought in Texas, the tornadoes in the Midwest and South, the floods along the Mississippi, the water stress, wildfires and pine beetle infestation in the North American West, and the hurricanes and storm surges along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts are going to go away soon, then you are living in cloud cuckoo land. They are going to become worse over time. Not mobilizing to adapt is no longer an option.
To read the full report, you can go here:
