Listening to executives of the International Energy Agency discuss their World Energy Outlook 2011 report this morning (Nov. 28) at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, even as the COP17 global climate negotiations begin in Durban, I found myself recalling Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady when she sang:
Words! Words! Words!
I’m so sick of words!
I get words all day through, first from him, now from you!
Is that all you blighters can do?
Why? Because the cold, hard data in the authoritative IEA report underscores the yawning gap between the words that we hear from the world’s political and business leaders and what is actually happening on the ground (and in the air).
Here are a few examples:
Rhetoric: Virtually every world leader and CEO says anthropogenic climate change is a serious problem. Thousands have traveled in Durban to talk, interminably, about climate justice, climate finance, post-Kyoto, etc.
Reality: Energy-related carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2010 were the highest in history. They’ve grown, in large part, because roughly half of the growth in energy use during the last decade came from coal, as this chart shows. Most countries and most companies emit more greenhouse gases today than ever.
Rhetoric: Just about everyone – business people, enviros, Democrats, Republicans — supports energy efficiency. What’s not to like? [click to continue…]
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