Here's a Daily News column I wrote a couple years ago on global warming.
Also: Find out how you can win Larry David's hybrid car from his HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Plus see all that his wife, Laurie, is doing to help our environment. Do what you can to help her efforts. She is a good friend and a great gal! Oh and another thing, don't drive an SUV near her, she has been known to ticket big gas guzzlers and engage drivers in chats about what we can all do to conserve fuel.
UPDATE: Has your Mayor signed the Climate Protection Agreement?
Find out if he or she did and offer a congrats or a call to action depending.
UPDATE 5/15: The Christian Aid Organization warned that over 184 million could die in Africa alone due to droughts and famines caused by global warming in the coming decades, reversing the recent progress made on reducing poverty in the region.
The case for ratifications of the Law of the Sea Convention and implications for Climate Change
Many have realized that Climate Change is the most serious challenge facing the planet this century.
The legal journal article abstract below makes a strong case that the ratification
of this treaty by the U.S. may in fact be the world's best hope for really addressing the issue of climate change.
Unlike the Kyoto t Climate Change Convention, he Law of the Sea Convention includes equal responsibilities for addressing these issues by the nations of China and India.
More significantly the science that signatories agreed to abide by from the U.N. on oceans is the same scientific group that does the science for climate change. In other words we are not going to have an issue of conflicts between two different scientific groups because they are one in the same.
With climate change clearly being one of if not the greatest challenges of the 21st century it may be wise to pursue every reasonable possibility to effectively address this issue.
I have seen nothing better for engaging the U.S. in the international community than the ratification of the Law of the Sea Convention to do just that.
In addition and perhaps of greater interest to the public is the relationship this treaty has to national security with General Richard Meyers chair of the Joint Chief of Staff calling it a national security priority and it being strongly endorsed by the U.S. State Dept, the U.S. Defense Dept, the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Navy.
Key Reasons To Ratify the Law of the Sea Convention.
1. The Law of the Sea Convention has broad based bipartisan support
o The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee recommend it with a 19-0 vote in the last Congress but the treaty was never allowed to come to the Senate floor for a vote.
o The Law of the Sea Convention is supported by U.S. State Dept, Defense Dept, Navy, Coast Guard & Homeland Security.
o The Law of the Sea Convention Supported by Oil, Fishing, Maritime industries
o The Law of the Sea Convention Supported by Environmental Organizations
o SEAKEEPERS International reports support of 95 U.S. Senators for ratification of the Law of the Sea Convention
o Both the PEW Ocean and U.S. Ocean Policy Commission recommended
immediate ratification of the Law of the Sea Convention.
See: http://lugar.senate.gov/sfrc/sea.html
2. National Security is at risk without ratification of the treaty.
o Imagine if the U.S. Navy had to take a 3000 mile detour around Indonesia traveling from the Persian Gulf to Korea.
o Imagine if Iran barred all tankers rom the Straits of Hormuz.
o Imagine not being able to require submarines to surface and show the flag they are flying under when in U.S. territorial waters.
o General Richard B. Meyers recently stated “The Convention remains a top national security priority” (see attached paper “The Senate Should Give Immediate Advice and Consent to the Law of the Sea Convention”
3. U.S. Economic and Environmental interests at risk without ratification of the treaty.
o Protecting energy and mining rights off the limits of the Continental shelf is at issue.
The treaty expands the 1958 Convention which the U.S. is a part of to 200 mile regardless of the geology of the continental shelf and longer if it meets certain criteria.
o Treaty addresses both marine animal protection and pollution issues
o Fishing regulations needs both U.S. input and enforcement to protect this resource
4. U.S. losing a golden opportunity to take moral leadership on international ocean policy.
o Without being a part to the convention U.S. loses rights to negotiate international ocean policy and to protect points that it fought hard to create in the treaty in the first place.
o In a world where the U.S. has lost much international respect this is a great opportunity to once again take some moral leadership on important international ocean governance policies.
o The U.S. needs to be party to critical discussions such as how climate change is
impacting the oceans particularly with the increased intensity of hurricanes.
The only reason it seems that we do not have ratification of the Law of the Sea treaty is that Senator Bill Frist has chosen to put the U.S. national security, economic, and international relationships behind his own political aspirations.
In light of the concern around the recent stories related to Port Security the fact Senator Frist
would risk our national security by not ratifying this treaty is incredible.
Senator Frist’s staff told me they were concerned about the view of the Eagle Forum which made not sense to me given the broad support of the treaty. When I looked at the Eagle Forum’s website I found that Phyllis Schlafly had actually made a statement that if Senator Frist allows the treat to come to a vote he will lose any hope of a presidential nomination from his party. see: http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2004/mar04/04-03-17.html
Notes From the Law of the Sea Treaty:
Article117
Duty of States to adopt with respect to their nationals
measures for the conservation of the living resources of the high seas
All States have the duty to take, or to cooperate with other States in taking, such measures for their respective nationals as may be necessary for the conservation of the living resources of the high seas.
If the U.S. was a signatory to the treaty it seems that it would have a duty to cooperate with other States to take measures for the conservation of living resources. This would put the U.S. on equal footing with all nations regarding the impacts of Climate Change and could overcome the exclusions in the Kyoto treat that do not exist in the Law of the Sea of certain nations.
Article118
Cooperation of States in the conservation and management
of living resources
States shall cooperate with each other in the conservation and management of living resources in the areas of the high seas. States whose nationals exploit identical living resources, or different living resources in the same area, shall enter into negotiations with a view to taking the measures necessary for the conservation of the living resources concerned. They shall, as appropriate, cooperate to establish subregional or regional fisheries organizations to this end.
If the U.S. was a signatory to the treaty it seems tht it might have a duty to cooperate with other states in issues such as rising seas and threats to small island nations, along with issues such as thinning ice for Caribou etc.
Article145
Protection of the marine environment
Necessary measures shall be taken in accordance with this Convention with respect to activities in the Area to ensure effective protection for the marine environment from harmful effects which may arise from such activities. To this end the Authority shall adopt appropriate rules, regulations and procedures for inter alia:
(a) the prevention, reduction and control of pollution and other hazards to the marine environment, including the coastline, and of interference with the ecological balance of the marine environment, particular attention being paid to the need for protection from harmful effects of such activities as drilling, dredging, excavation, disposal of waste, construction and operation or maintenance of installations, pipelines and other devices related to such activities;
(b) the protection and conservation of the natural resources of the Area and the prevention of damage to the flora and fauna of the marine environment.
This last article 145 might be the most promising for action on Climate Change action as you can see from the abstract of the article below by William C. G. Burns (http://www.law.mcgill.ca/jsdlp/en/content/2-1/)
Potential Causes of Action for Climate Change Damages in International Fora: The Law of the Sea Convention
William C.G. Burns
Abstract: Although the Kyoto Protocol has been viewed as a milestone in international climate change policy, its potential to stem the tide of environmental degradation may prove illusory on two fronts: first, the U.S. has declined to become a Party to the Protocol; and second, even full implementation by all industrialized States would only modestly affect atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, climate change litigation in national and international fora is emerging as an alternative means by which to hold States and private actors accountable for climate change damages. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is a promising instrument through which such action might be taken, given its broad definition of pollution to the marine environment and the dispute resolution mechanisms contained within its provisions. The paper outlines the history and content of UNCLOS, examines potential harms that could give rise to action under the Convention, and discusses the likely legal barriers to bringing and proving such claims. The failure of the world’s major greenhouse gas emitting nations to seriously address climate change has made litigation unavoidable. As such, UNCLOS may prove to be a primary battleground for climate change issues in the future.
Note: The science for both the law of the sea and climate change is the same group making it more easily to integrate the two issues.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization / Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO/IOC) - The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO provides Member States of the United Nations with an essential mechanism for global cooperation in the study of the ocean, with programs that focus on marine environmental protection, ecosystem dynamics, climate change, global observing systems, data and information management, coastal area management, and disaster management. Through the Joint IOC/WMO Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) it coordinates and manages the implementation of an operational ocean observing system in support of the Global Ocean Observing system (GOOS) and the Global Climate Observing system (GCOS) in support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
UN-OCEANS Representative: Mr Patricio Bernal, Assistant Director-General UNESCO, Executive Secretary, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC).
Just came across this on Think Progress
Top NASA scientist James Hansen explained why he did not attend a recent House committee hearing on global warming. “I would get out of my sickbed to testify to Congress on global warming, if they were ready to deal responsibly with the matter,” Hansen wrote. “But obviously they are still in denial, inviting contrarians to ‘balance’ the science of global warming.”
Posted by: Flavia at July 21, 2006 11:21 AMAnother NASA nugget:
NASA quietly had its mission statement changed last February by the White House, who deleted the phrase “to understand and protect our home planet.” NASA scientists were surprised to learn of the change. “Without it, these scientists say, there will be far less incentive to pursue projects to improve understanding of terrestrial problems like climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions.”
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