John Kerry at MIT warns of climate ‘catastrophe’: We are in an urgent ‘race against time’
At MIT, U.S. Secretary of State highlights peril of climate change, economic promise of clean energy.Watch Video
Peter Dizikes | MIT News Office
January 9, 2017
Amid record temperatures and rising sea levels that stem in large part from carbon emissions, Kerry stated, we must act quickly “to avoid the catastrophe we will inevitably see if we allow carbon emissions to go up, and up, and up.” Moreover, he added, “We need to speed it up dramatically because we are in a race against time.”
However, speaking before a capacity audience of about 250 people in MIT’s Samberg Conference Center, Kerry talked at greater length about the upsides of a prospective clean-energy revolution, referencing the falling prices of wind and solar power and observing that by making renewable energy a major growth industry, “we can put millions of people to work.”
The speech constituted one of the last major public statements Kerry is expected to make on climate change as Secretary of State before he leaves office with the change of administration later this month. Climate change efforts have been a key part of Kerry’s portfolio, and he highlighted the State Department’s recent work on the topic.
Kerry hailed the 2015 Paris Agreement, in which over 190 countries agreed to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and contended that the extensive bilateral U.S.-China climate negotiations, leading to a 2014 announcement of climate cooperation, “changed the whole playing field” by showing how committed the two countries were to an evolving approach on energy.
The Paris Agreement also signaled to entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors that the renewable energy sector would remain a growth industry, Kerry said, and he called on his audience to participate in the transformation of energy.
“Brilliant minds trained at MIT are behind some of the most transformative innovations in history,” Kerry said, suggesting the Institute’s students and entrepreneurs could help mitigate climate change while developing “the greatest economic opportunity the world has ever known.”
Maria Zuber, MIT’s vice president for research, introduced Kerry before
Trump’s Sec. of State pick Rex Tillerson: America will pursue ‘most efficient, effective way’ to get electricity to world’s poor
Video Police: Greenpeace Says Netflix Binge-Watching May Not Be Good For The Environment
Greenpeace released a report on Monday rating video streaming companies by carbon footprint, and a couple big ones, including Netflix and Hulu, didn’t fare too well.
That’s because all those “Stranger Things” and “Gilmore Girls” episodes are delivered to our phones, laptops and TVs via massive servers that use up a lot of energy, which can come from renewable sources or nonrenewable ones, like coal.
Although the company has made bold claims about its energy efficiency in the past ― stating that watching Netflix is greener than breathing ― it received an overall D grade. Hulu fared even worse with an F, while Amazon Prime received a C. Out of streaming companies included, YouTube (owned by Google, whose energy use the organization praises) earned the best grade ― an A. Greenpeace evaluated companies on factors including energy mix, commitments to renewable energy, transparency on energy sources and advocacy for clean energy.
Netflix declined to offer any comment on the report.
Global Warming Alarmists Claim A Scalp, Drive Skeptical Scientist From University
COMMENTARY
Global Warming Alarmists Claim A Scalp, Drive Skeptical Scientist From University
Officially, Judith Curry is retiring from the School of Earth and Atmospheric Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology. But it’s not because she feels she has nothing left to contribute. She’s leaving the school she once chaired because of the madness that’s infected climate science.
“A deciding factor was that I no longer know what to say to students and postdocs regarding how to navigate the CRAZINESS (her emphasis) in the field of climate science,” Curry wrote in an explanation of her resignation.
“Research and other professional activities are professionally rewarded only if they are channeled in certain directions approved by a politicized academic establishment — funding, ease of getting your papers published, getting hired in prestigious positions, appointments to prestigious committees and boards, professional recognition, etc.”
Curry is a known skeptic of the manipulative narrative that says without a bit of reservation man’s burning of fossil fuel is causing Earth to dangerously warm. She’s even been called a” “denier,” a label that means she hasn’t surrendered to the intellectual corruption that has sullied her field.
Though she’s leaving Georgia Tech, Curry will continue to work in climate science. But it will be in the private sector, which she believes is “a more ‘honest’ place for a scientist working in a politicized field than universities or government labs.”
Curry has seen firsthand how climate science has been bought by a government that sees the global warming scare as a way to seize more control, and by left-wing groups that financially support pro-warming research, which they use justify their big government agenda. While skeptical and lukewarm scientists are often accused of being shills for oil companies, the big money goes to the researchers who keep the climate scare rolling. We’re talking around $100 billion or more by now from the federal government alone since just 2008.
Enviros Wear Dinosaur Outfits At Tillerson Confirmation Hearing Protests
…Global Warming Activist Interrupts Tillerson Hearing — ‘My Home Was Destroyed By Hurricane Sandy’
…Trump’s Secretary Of State Pick Wants International Response To Global Warming
…Tillerson: ‘The Risk Of Climate Change Does Exist’
…Eco-Hypocrite Sting sings about ‘climate change’: ‘Dear leaders, please do something quick’ – ‘Time is up, the planet’s sick’
BY CHRISTIAN TOTO
The official video for “One Fine Day,” from the rocker’s new album “57TH & 9TH [Deluxe Edition],” features the following lyrics:
Apologists say
The weather’s just a cycle we can’t change
Scientists say
We’ve pushed those cycles way beyond
Dear leaders, please do something quick
Time is up, the planet’s sick
But hey, we’ll all be grateful
One fine day?
Today the North West Passage just got found
Three penguins and a bear got drowned
The ice they lived on disappeared
Seems things are worse than some had feared…
Obama: To deny climate change ‘betrays spirit of this country’ – UN deal ‘has the promise to save this planet’
President Obama touted his climate change policies during his farewell address Tuesday, and said we must keep the momentum going.
“In just eight years, we’ve halved our dependency on foreign oil, doubled our renewable energy, and led the world to an agreement that has the promise to save this planet,” Obama said, referring to the Paris Agreement. “Without bolder action, our children won’t have time to debate the existence of climate change; they’ll be busy dealing with its effects — more environmental disasters, more economic disruptions, waves of climate refugees seeking sanctuary.” While it’s important to “argue about the best approach to solve this problem,” Obama said that to “simply deny the problem not only betrays future generations, it betrays the essential spirit of this country, the essential spirit of innovation and practical problem solving that guided our founders.”
The president believes that American tenacity is what will help us solve climate change and other major issues, “that spirit born of the Enlightenment that made us an economic powerhouse. The spirit that took flight at Kitty Hawk and Cape Canaveral, the spirit that cures disease and put a computer in every pocket. It’s that spirit, a faith in reason and enterprise and the primacy of right over might that allowed us to resist the lure of fascism and tyranny during the Great Depression.” This is the spirit that “allowed us to build a post-World War II order with other democracies,” Obama continued, “an order based not on just military power or national affiliations, but built on principles of the rule of law, human rights, freedom of religion and speech and assembly, and an independent press.” Catherine Garcia…