Pachauri’s blog and President Obama
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has launched his own blog.
It’s a curious thing for someone already so well known, well positioned, to do (hence the exclamation marks from Wattsupwiththat). It is also not that sophisticated as a portfolio site.
Perhaps the process of leading the IPCC through tortuous negotiations processes around the text of each IPCC report has been so painful that Pachauri feels the need to communicate without so many restrictions. If Pachauri thinks opening up a blog is anything of a nicer experience, he might want to think again.
The latest blog post from Nov 5 looks at President-elect Obama’s positioning on climate change. As chair of the IPCC, Pachauri’s views are worth accounting for:
The US now has a unique opportunity to assume leadership in meeting the threat of climate change, and it would help greatly if the new President were to announce a coherent and forward looking policy soon after he takes office. There is every reason to believe that President Obama will actually do so.
Carefully chosen and political words, although not the most inspiring that have been written in the past week since Obama’s victory on the subject of the U.S. and climate change. Here are a select few:
Letter from Todd Carmichael as he attempts to walk solo to Antarctica
“All kidding aside, I cast my ballot for Obama/Biden in advance and did all the fundraising I could in my hometown of Philadelphia before leaving for the seventh continent. Your progressive stance on fighting global warming and your bold vision for our renewable energy future made my decision pretty easy. But the main reason I voted for you is because of the effects of climate change I’ve witnessed first-hand here in Antarctica.”
Guardian’s / Grist’s Kate Sheppard on Obama’s Energy Promises
“If the next administration is serious about addressing global warming - and Barack Obama has promised he is, laying out a comprehensive plan on the subject - it’s likely that the first big environmental actions will never be called “environmental” at all. Instead, success in environmental concerns will come through addressing economic concerns.”
Bill McKibben on Obama’s Big Climate Challenge
“While both FDR and Obama had financial meltdowns to deal with, Obama also faces the meltdown meltdown — the rapid disintegration of the planet’s climate system that threatens to challenge the very foundations of our civilization.”
DeSmog’s Kevin Grandia on Canada and Obama
“That leaves only Canada playing the part of selfish oil sheik in a threatened world. We can only hope that Obama’s leadership forces the Canadian government to recognize that it, too, has a responsibility to join the international effort to address climate change - in good faith and in our lifetime.”
Reenita Malhotra writing on Green Options about the environmental-Emmanuel
“As Jennifer Lance mentioned in her post this week on Red, Green and Blue, last Tuesday was a win not only for Barack Obama but also for the environment. Hours after being elected the new President of the United States, Obama has already selected fellow Illinois Democrat, Rahm Emanuel, a strong supporter of the environment, to be his Chief of Staff.”
World Changing: Obama puts wind back in green sails
Solve Climate: Heal the world and save the planet
SEJ: Enviros laud Obama
World Changing: Obama, the post-environmental President
NYT: So little time, so much damage
Greenpeace: Relieved it’s Obama
Grist: Obama On!
Polizeros: Obama, the net, and climate change
And some useful links:
- Knight Science round-up on Obama climate coverage
- Guardian on Obama’s voting record on environment in Congress
- In case you forgot, Bush’s 7 Deadly Environmental Sins
