Climate, Economics, Reality, Part 3

Climate, Economics, Reality, Part 2
What is really happening to the earth? What are the observational and simulation data saying? What is the political and economic reality - are business models based on climate change mitigation the ultimate safe haven for investors, or overhyped schemes that are vulnerable to imminent shifts in scientific consensus?
Moderator: Paul Deninger, Vice Chairman, Jefferies & Company, Inc.
Howard Hayden, Professor Emeritus, Physics, University of Connecticut
Richard Lindzen, Professor, MIT
Nick d'Arbeloff, President, New England Clean Energy Council
Paul Epstein, Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• global
• warming
• climate
• change
• alwayson
• goinggreen
• venture
• capital

[Brantoc]

She might as well asked, "If the world was a better place and the laws of physics were different, would the world be different?"

Today only about 1/3 of the planet has 24/7 power, Air conditioning, access to mass transit, communications, etc. Even if you reduce by 2/3 the industrialized footprint, if we bring the poor up in the world it will be unchanged. Solutions are a) kill 80% of all people and go to a pre-industrial society, or b) live with AC. I choose B.

[Talamanca3]

Bizzar! How can the environmental movement be so strong and have such whimsicle ideas. They sit up there and toss around ideas for some sort of national energy solution, like they are children. Real problem solvers study and risk their own time and energy to add value. These guys want others to take the risk on based on whim.

Watch Lindzen's other youtube videos to learn about global warming. He is good.

[seaplaneguy1]

The average car is 13% efficient (GM figure). If you got 60% on average, you would get 4.6 times the mileage or 79% of the fuel load gone.

If you park your car and got 1 kw for 8 hrs you could drive 40 miles (like a GM volt)...where most days you would use no fuel. If your house had the same engine...total fuel load would be <10% of current, on average.

Such technology will be proved out shortly...

All the alarmist's concerns are NOT warranted...

[jayah2007]

Australia ratified Kyoto protocol early in 2008.

[LordVigeous666999]

yes

[Texmurphy51]

Did you ever notice that the biggest envionmentalist are the biggest energy users. Al Gore, Barbra Strisand, etc Hollywood and Political figures alike. They fly, drive, use resources however they like, buy some carbon credits and bingo its all OK. We cant make products in the US cause it polutes but we buy them from other countrys that do. Dont drill for oil or cut down trees but still use them. Allow forests to grow uncut, burn down with endangered animals, plus carbon release.  Dahhhhh

[spernoadversa]

@falconcat1 You got that right. All these countries that are going to go the way of solar and wind power are gonna be screwed over when India and especially China tell them to go pound salt!!!

[spernoadversa]

What if they stop coal fired plants and oil production and reduced the planet by 50% and after 75 years the planet warmed significantly. Could you still blame CO2 as the leading cause for warming of the planet?

[falconcat1]

china, india, japan and australia will not ratify the kyoto protocol. it doesn't matter if the treehuggers buy a prius, all their hard effort will amount to nothing.

[dainese01]

its not just our energy use though.

fossil fuel usage. car emissions.