The scientific facts show that global warming presents
real risks to all over the world. We
believe that
tackling global warming can create jobs, improve our economy, and
strengthen our nation''s security, as well as leave our descendants a healthy
world where they can have decent lives. Global warming is a problem. It''s also
a business opportunity.
The truth is that doing something about global warming
is consistent with the principles of true conservatism -- taking responsibility
for our actions, thrift, acting prudently and cautiously, and looking out the
interests of future generations.
er-rising industrial and consumer demand for more
power in tandem with cheap and abundant coal reserves across the globe are
expected to result in the construction of new coal-fired power plants producing
1,400 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, according to the International Energy
Agency. In the absence of
emission controls, these new plants will increase
worldwide annual emissions of carbon dioxide by approximately 7.6 billion
metric tons by 2030. These emissions would equal roughly 50 percent of all
fossil fuel emissions over the past 250 years.
In the United
States alone, about 145 gigawatts of new
power from coal-fired plants are projected to be built by 2030, resulting in CO2
emissions of 790 million metric tons per year in the absence of emission
controls. By comparison, annual U.S.
emissions of CO2 from all sources in 2005 were about 6 billion metric
tons.
Policymakers and scientists now recognize that the
current growth of
greenhouse gas emissions must be reversed and that emissions
must be reduced substantially in order to combat the risk of climate change.
Yet a dramatic increase in coal-fired power generation threatens to overwhelm
all other efforts to lower emissions and virtually guarantees that these
emissions will continue to climb. This would preclude any possibility of
stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at levels that
would acceptably moderate the predicted rise in global temperatures.
In China
and other developing countries experiencing strong economic growth, demand for
power is surging dramatically, with low-cost coal the fuel of choice for new
power plants. Emissions in these countries are now rising faster than in
developed economies in North America and Europe: China
will soon overtake the United
States as the world’s number one greenhouse
gas emitter. With the power sector expanding rapidly, China and India will fall further behind in
controlling greenhouse gas emissions unless new coal plants adopt emission
controls. Lack of progress in these countries would doom to failure global
efforts to combat global warming.