...99 percent confident that the world really was getting warmer and that there was a high degree of probability that it was due to human-made greenhouse gases.
James HansenRead
The danger is that the compromises and special interests inherent in Kyoto-style targets and cap-and-trade will be accepted because of bureaucratic momentum.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote warns against blindly accepting complex environmental policies without scrutiny due to bureaucratic pressure.
James Hansen emphasizes the risks associated with environmental agreements like Kyoto-style targets and cap-and-trade systems. He suggests that these frameworks, while intended to combat climate change, may lead to compromises influenced by special interests and bureaucratic momentum, which could ultimately undermine their effectiveness and lead to suboptimal outcomes if not critically evaluated.
Themes
Climate ChangeCompromiseBureaucracyEnvironmental PolicyCap-And-Trade
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the effectiveness of international environmental agreements.
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We have at most ten years - not ten years to decide upon action, but ten years to alter fundamentally the trajectory of global greenhouse emissions... We are near a tipping point, a point of no return, beyond which the built in momentum and feedbacks will carry us to levels of climate change with staggering consequences for humanity and all of the residents of this planet.
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'Goals' and 'caps' on carbon emissions are practically worthless, if coal emissions continue, because of the exceedingly long lifetime of carbon dioxide in the air.
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