Kyoto countries miss their targets, but scientists say climate change was already unstoppable.
Hollywood and the media are way ahead of the politicians when it comes to the greenhouse effect and global warming. An exposé in a recent issue of Time magazine (April 3, 2006) cited warnings from scientists of a “tipping point”—that we may be approaching “the point of no return” if we do nothing on climate change.
Maybe, in fact, we’re already there. That might explain why utilities dared to challenge Congress and the “wait-and-see” crowd on whether to continue to defer on various proposals to restrict emissions of carbon dioxide, at a conference before the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, held in early April.
In fact, Exelon Corp. and Duke Energy Corp., PNM Resources Inc., and Sempra Energy urged Congress to impose mandatory restrictions on emissions of carbon dioxide. Southern Co. and American Electric Power urged a voluntary program, as did the Edison Electric Institute.
But even as utilities try to be good corporate citizens and help devise a federal or national plan, the question remains as to whether the domestic economy can achieve even a modest reduction in CO2 releases—enough to put even a small dent in current predictions of global climate change.
A Faustian Deal
New scientific evidence suggests that global warming is inevitable: that our only choice is how much and how soon.