Wedges Reaffirmed, by Robert Socolow

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Includes expert commentary from high level figures in the climate policy community such as: Nicholas Stern, Ralph J. Cicerone, Rep. Rush Holt, David Hawkins, Freeman Dyson, Chris Field and others.

http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/wedges-reaffirmed

Wedges Reaffirmed
Published: September 27th, 2011
By Rob Socolow

In August 2004, Steve Pacala and I published a paper in Science about climate change mitigation. Its core messages are as valid today as seven years ago, but they have not led to action. Here, I suggest that public resistance can be partially explained by shortcomings in the way advocates of forceful action have presented their case. Addressing these shortcomings might put the world back on the course we identified.

Let’s review the messages in our 2004 paper. The paper assumes that the world wishes to act decisively and coherently to deal with climate change. It makes the case that “humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical and industrial know-how to solve the carbon and climate problem for the next half-century.” This core message surprised many people, because our paper arrived at a time when the Bush administration was asserting that, unfortunately, the tools available were not suited for addressing climate change. Indeed, at a conference I attended at that time, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham insisted that a discovery akin to the discovery of electricity was required.

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Editor's Note: This essay continues on page 2, and includes expert commentary from high level figures in the climate policy community such as: Nicholas Stern, Ralph J. Cicerone, Rep. Rush Holt, David Hawkins, Freeman Dyson, Chris Field and others.