This Moment on Earth: on Energy & Oil
John Kerry:
Global Warming as “hoax” is funded by Big Oil & GOP
Big oil & their Republican allies in Congress have gone to great lengths to both muddle the facts & stifle efforts to address climate change. Oil companies have given money to advocacy organizations that deny the science behind global warming theory &
have taken out full-page ads in major newspapers questioning the role of man-made emissions in climate change. When Americans see ads like that, and hear their leaders claiming that climate change is a “hoax,” no wonder we are one of the few nations that
have not wholeheartedly embraced both the science & the urgent need to act.Here is the reality of global climate change. At both poles & nearly all points in between, the temperature of Earth’s surface is heating up. Nearly every researcher
professionally engaged in the study of climate change, from across the political and ideological spectrum, agrees that the increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere caused by human activity is responsible for the current warming trend
Source: This Moment On Earth, by John & Teresa Kerry, p.119-122
Jan 1, 2007
John Kerry:
Global warming as "hoax" is funded by Big Oil and GOP
Efforts have been well supported by big oil and their Republican allies in Congress. For more than a decade, ExxonMobil has gone to great lengths to both muddle the facts and stifle efforts to address climate change. Oil companies have given money to
advocacy organizations that deny the science behind global warming theory and have even taken out full-page ads in major newspapers questioning the role of man-made emissions in climate change. When Americans can pick up a paper and see an ad like that,
and hear their leaders in Washington claiming that climate change is a "hoax," no wonder we are one of the few nations that have not wholeheartedly embraced both the science and the urgent need to act.Today, in fact, nearly every researcher
professionally engaged in the study of climate change, from across the political and ideological spectrum, agrees that the increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere caused by human activity is responsible for the current warming trend
Source: This Moment On Earth, by John & Teresa Kerry, p.119-22
Jan 1, 2007
John Kerry:
Senate rejection of Kyoto was to renegotiate, not ignore it
In 1997 the Senate [debated the Kyoto Protocol on] the issue of excluding developing countries from CO2 reductions. India and China were about to become significant enough as industrial powers that to exempt them entirely from the Kyoto Protocol would be
a mistake--which convinced every member of the Senate that the US should not ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Rather, the Senate unanimously passed the Byrd-Hagel Resolution, which cautioned the US from agreeing to binding emissions reductions while less
developed nations could grow with whatever practices they chose, and with no responsibility to meet any particular standard. Some people interpret the Byrd-Hagel Resolution as an objection to any mandatory controls on emissions, but that's not the case.
In fact, the resolution called for the treaty's renegotiation, not for the issue to be ignored. In one respect in particular, the resolution had particularly damaging consequences: It seeded the idea of American reluctance to lead on this vital issue.
Source: This Moment On Earth, by John & Teresa Kerry, p.141-2
Jan 1, 2007
John Kerry:
We cannot drill our way to energy independence
Although we all cheered in early 2006 when President Bush finally acknowledged that our country was "addicted" to oil, and although his administration has grudgingly gone along with some small investments in pursuing alternative energy sources, its
primary energy policy thrust has been to set America on a course toward even greater addiction to oil and other fossil fuels. The administration has been operating on the bizarre assumption that we can drill our way to energy independence.
Exploring and extracting fossil fuel is a necessary part of our energy mix. We will be drilling and exploiting these resources for years to come, but we must take into account its true cost and the damage it will cause, the
true cost of the investment and the alternatives available. Casualties of the drilling frenzy that ignore these costs are increasingly scattered across the American landscape.
Source: This Moment On Earth, by John & Teresa Kerry, p.152-3
Jan 1, 2007
John Kerry:
Clean coal is only OK if we sequester tons of CO2
If we want to burn the plentiful stock of US coal, we first have to find a way to strictly limit the amount of carbon dioxide released in the process. If we fail, we have little chance of gaining control over global warming.Techniques have been
developed--called CO2 capture and storage (CCS) or geologic carbon sequestration--in which most of the carbon dioxide produced at power plants is not released into the atmosphere but is captured and then stored deep underground.
The International Panel on Climate Change estimated in 2005 that it is "highly probable that geologic media worldwide are capable of sequestering at least 2 trillion metric tons of CO2--more than is likely to be produced by fossil-fuel-consuming plants
during the 21st century." With at least 114 new coal-burning power plants currently in the building or permitting stages around the country, we have no time to waste in requiring an immediate and significant reduction in carbon emissions from coal plants
Source: This Moment On Earth, by John & Teresa Kerry, p.184
Jan 1, 2007
John Kerry:
Dismiss nuclear power until weapons & waste are resolved
Nuclear energy is carbon free, and it is also available. That is the case for considering it.If the clean energy options were properly developed and exploited, nuclear power would not be necessary. In the mad rush to embrace nuclear power, however,
we cannot forget the three big counts against it:
- it is more expensive than new coal- or gas-powered plants;
- global expansion of nuclear power raises concerns that radioactive nuclear weapons ambitions may inadvertently be advanced; and
- no one has yet resolved the issue of how to handle the radioactive nuclear waste that results from the process, which will be around for thousands of years.
Although it cannot be dismissed as
part of the energy solution and our response to the threat of global climate change, until the 3 big hurdles are adequately addressed, nuclear energy does not offer a sound vision for the long-term future.
Source: This Moment On Earth, by John & Teresa Kerry, p.186
Jan 1, 2007
John Kerry:
Legislation to reduce CO2 emissions by 2050
Senator Olympia J. Snowe and I have introduced the most aggressive, bipartisan legislation yet put before Congress to slow, stop, and reverse greenhouse gas emissions.
Our plan sets greenhouse gas emissions targets that science suggests keep temperatures below the danger point. The level of emissions is frozen in 2010 and then gradually declines each year to 65% below 2000 emissions levels by 2056.
The bill achieves these targets through a flexible, economy-wide cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions.
It includes measures to advance technology and reduce emissions through clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency in the transportation, industrial and residential sectors.
Source: This Moment On Earth, by John Kerry, p.205
Jan 1, 2007
Olympia Snowe:
Legislation to reduce CO2 emissions by 2050
Senator Olympia J. Snowe and I have introduced the most aggressive, bipartisan legislation yet put before Congress to slow, stop, and reverse greenhouse gas emissions.
Our plan sets greenhouse gas emissions targets that science suggests keep temperatures below the danger point. The level of emissions is frozen in 2010 and then gradually declines each year to 65% below 2000 emissions levels by 2056.
The bill achieves these targets through a flexible, economy-wide cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions.
It includes measures to advance technology and reduce emissions through clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency in the transportation, industrial and residential sectors.
Source: This Moment On Earth, by John Kerry, p.205
Jan 1, 2007
Page last updated: Feb 18, 2019