by: Al Gore 2 July 2007, New York Times
WE — the human species — have arrived at a moment of decision. It is
unprecedented and even laughable for us to imagine that we could actually make a
conscious choice as a species, but that is nevertheless the challenge that is
before us.
Our home — Earth — is in danger. What is at risk of being
destroyed is not the planet itself, but the conditions that have made it
hospitable for human beings.
Without realizing the consequences of our
actions, we have begun to put so much carbon dioxide into the thin shell of air
surrounding our world that we have literally changed the heat balance between
Earth and the Sun. If we don't stop doing this pretty quickly, the average
temperature will increase to levels humans have never known and put an end to
the favorable climate balance on which our civilization depends.
In the
last 150 years, in an accelerating frenzy, we have been removing increasing
quantities of carbon from the ground — mainly in the form of coal and oil — and
burning it in ways that dump 70 million tons of CO2 every 24 hours into the
Earth's atmosphere.
The concentrations of CO2 — having never risen above
300 parts per million for at least a million years — have been driven from 280
parts per million at the beginning of the coal boom to 383 parts per million
this year.
As a direct result, many scientists are now warning that we
are moving closer to several "tipping points" that could — within 10 years —
make it impossible for us to avoid irretrievable damage to the planet's
habitability for human civilization.
Just in the last few months, new
studies have shown that the north polar ice cap — which helps the planet cool
itself — is melting nearly three times faster than the most pessimistic computer
models predicted. Unless we take action, summer ice could be completely gone in
as little as 35 years. Similarly, at the other end of the planet, near the South
Pole, scientists have found new evidence of snow melting in West Antarctica
across an area as large as California.
This is not a political issue.
This is a moral issue, one that affects the survival of human civilization. It
is not a question of left versus right; it is a question of right versus wrong.
Put simply, it is wrong to destroy the habitability of our planet and ruin the
prospects of every generation that follows ours.
On Sept. 21, 1987,
President Ronald Reagan said, "In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment,
we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need
some outside, universal threat to recognize this common bond. I occasionally
think how quickly our differences would vanish if we were facing an alien threat
from outside this world."
We — all of us — now face a universal threat.
Though it is not from outside this world, it is nevertheless cosmic in scale.
Consider this tale of two planets. Earth and Venus are almost exactly
the same size, and have almost exactly the same amount of carbon. The difference
is that most of the carbon on Earth is in the ground — having been deposited
there by various forms of life over the last 600 million years — and most of the
carbon on Venus is in the atmosphere.
As a result, while the average
temperature on Earth is a pleasant 59 degrees, the average temperature on Venus
is 867 degrees. True, Venus is closer to the Sun than we are, but the fault is
not in our star; Venus is three times hotter on average than Mercury, which is
right next to the Sun. It's the carbon dioxide.
This threat also requires
us, in Reagan's phrase, to unite in recognition of our common bond.
Next
Saturday, on all seven continents, the Live Earth concert will ask for the
attention of humankind to begin a three-year campaign to make everyone on our
planet aware of how we can solve the climate crisis in time to avoid
catastrophe. Individuals must be a part of the solution. In the words of
Buckminster Fuller, "If the success or failure of this planet, and of human
beings, depended on how I am and what I do, how would I be? What would I
do?"
Live Earth will offer an answer to this question by asking everyone
who attends or listens to the concerts to sign a personal pledge to take
specific steps to combat climate change. (More details about the pledge are
available at algore.com.)
But individual action will also have to shape
and drive government action. Here Americans have a special responsibility.
Throughout most of our short history, the United States and the American people
have provided moral leadership for the world. Establishing the Bill of Rights,
framing democracy in the Constitution, defeating fascism in World War II,
toppling Communism and landing on the moon — all were the result of American
leadership.
Once again, Americans must come together and direct our
government to take on a global challenge. American leadership is a precondition
for success.
To this end, we should demand that the United States join an
international treaty within the next two years that cuts global warming
pollution by 90 percent in developed countries and by more than half worldwide
in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy Earth.
This treaty
would mark a new effort. I am proud of my role during the Clinton administration
in negotiating the Kyoto protocol. But I believe that the protocol has been so
demonized in the United States that it probably cannot be ratified here — much
in the way the Carter administration was prevented from winning ratification of
an expanded strategic arms limitation treaty in 1979. Moreover, the negotiations
will soon begin on a tougher climate treaty.
Therefore, just as President
Reagan renamed and modified the SALT agreement (calling it Start), after
belatedly recognizing the need for it, our next president must immediately focus
on quickly concluding a new and even tougher climate change pact. We should aim
to complete this global treaty by the end of 2009 — and not wait until 2012 as
currently planned.
If by the beginning of 2009, the United States already
has in place a domestic regime to reduce global warming pollution, I have no
doubt that when we give industry a goal and the tools and flexibility to sharply
reduce carbon emissions, we can complete and ratify a new treaty quickly. It is,
after all, a planetary emergency.
A new treaty will still have
differentiated commitments, of course; countries will be asked to meet different
requirements based upon their historical share or contribution to the problem
and their relative ability to carry the burden of change. This precedent is well
established in international law, and there is no other way to do
it.
There are some who will try to pervert this precedent and use
xenophobia or nativist arguments to say that every country should be held to the
same standard. But should countries with one-fifth our gross domestic product —
countries that contributed almost nothing in the past to the creation of this
crisis — really carry the same load as the United States? Are we so scared of
this challenge that we cannot lead?
Our children have a right to hold us
to a higher standard when their future — indeed, the future of all human
civilization — is hanging in the balance. They deserve better than a government
that censors the best scientific evidence and harasses honest scientists who try
to warn us about looming catastrophe. They deserve better than politicians who
sit on their hands and do nothing to confront the greatest challenge that
humankind has ever faced — even as the danger bears down on us.
We
should focus instead on the opportunities that are part of this challenge.
Certainly, there will be new jobs and new profits as corporations move
aggressively to capture the enormous economic opportunities offered by a clean
energy future.
But there's something even more precious to be gained if
we do the right thing. The climate crisis offers us the chance to experience
what few generations in history have had the privilege of experiencing: a
generational mission; a compelling moral purpose; a shared cause; and the thrill
of being forced by circumstances to put aside the pettiness and conflict of
politics and to embrace a genuine moral and spiritual challenge.
Al
Gore, vice president from 1993 to 2001, is the chairman of the Alliance for Climate Protection. He is
the author, most recently, of "The Assault on Reason."