Tag Archives: climate change

Third Planet organizes and moderates session at the 10th National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment: The New Green Economy

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Panel featuring Drs. Herman E. Daly, Bernd Steinmüller, and Peter Fox-Penner
will be moderated by Third Planet President, Robert Farmer

10th National Conference on Science, Technology and Environment

Fresh from its NGO participation at COP15 in Copenhagen, Third Planet is pleased to announce it has organized and will moderate a breakout session “After Copenhagen: The Economics and Physics of Implementing the COP 15 Agreements” for the 10th National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment: The New Green Economy in Washington, DC, January 20-22.

Third Planet is honored to present an informed discussion featuring three outstanding panelists:

  • the distinguished ecological economist Herman E. Daly, Ph.D., Professor, University of Maryland School of Public Policy, College Park, Maryland;
  • sustainable buildings scientist Bernd Steinmüller, Ph.D., Founder and Owner, Bernd Steinmüller, Sustainability Management Consulting (BSMC), Paderborn, Germany; and
  • internationally-recognized authority on energy and electric power issues, economist Peter Fox-Penner, Ph.D., Principal and Chairman-Emeritus, The Brattle Group, Washington, DC.

The discussion will be moderated by Third Planet president, Robert Farmer.

“Whatever agreements come out of COP15, the future direction of climate change-related solutions in the United States will be guided largely by the actions of local and regional governments. Many people view climate change as the symptom of a much larger problem: the absence of sustainable development,” said Mr. Farmer.

“How do we therefore bring about sustainable development as a prescription for climate change at the local and regional level? What are the roles of government, the private sector and non-government organizations in effecting this change? How might we set planning priorities based on sustainable development? How do we bring about the incremental change necessary to transition to a sustainable future? Fortunately this session features speakers who have a wealth of knowledge and experience to address the simple question: how do we do it?”

Third Planet’s session is on Thursday, January 21st from 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, Washington, DC.

Following this session, Professor Herman Daly will receive the NCSE’s Lifetime Achievement Award for 2010.  (For more information on Professor Daly and the award visit http://ncseonline.org/conference/greeneconomy/cms.cfm?id=3439 )

Third Planet (www.thethirdplanet.org) is a St. Augustine-based 501(c)(3) non-profit NGO founded in 1999. Its program work contributes to capacity-building for community-wide climate and energy planning, systems, and technology deployment, at local and regional levels through education, training and public awareness.

Third Planet has engaged in a diverse range of local and international capacity-building projects and is recognized as a source of balanced information on energy, sustainable development, and global climate change.

Background on the National Council for Science and the Environment conference

NCSE’s signature national conference will engage leading thinkers and doers from a diversity of disciplines, sectors, and perspectives in a structured conversation about the meaning of the green economy and how investment in green education, research and jobs can help solve both the economic and environmental crises.

Welcoming over 1000 attendees, The New Green Economy will bring together leaders in sustainable business, environmental policymakers, civil society, university faculty, students from across the nation, and educated citizens.

NCSE leverages a multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach to bring together involved scientists and decision makers from a wide range of organizations. Our conferences are highly interactive, including renowned speakers, topical symposia to explore issues in more depth, and breakout sessions to develop (and publish) recommendations on how to advance science and connect it with policy and decision-making.

For more information: http://ncseonline.org/conference/greeneconomy/.

No Kyoto Protocol for the United States

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No Kyoto Protocol for the United States: a minority of Americans don’t want it

As the lines at the Bella Center get longer, so do the prospects for any agreement in Copenhagen.



The crowds are growing substantially in numbers as the week goes on.

The crowds are growing substantially in numbers as the week goes on.



The developing world, including China, India and Brazil, insists that a modified Kyoto Protocol with new binding emissions targets for the industrialized nations, but not including the emerging industrial powers, is the only agreement they are willing to negotiate.

In the coming week there may be some movement and compromise concerning their own emissions by China, India and notably Brazil with its huge 1,000-member delegation (number 1 in size at COP15) to persuade the industrialized nations to strengthen the Kyoto Protocol—but the discussion is moot.



Delegates working into the night at the Bella Center

Delegates working into the night at the Bella Center



The industrialized nations in the current Kyoto Protocol, led by the European Union and likely most every other developed country, have no appetite and will not agree to new binding limits without the United States joining the Protocol—and in my opinion that is not going to happen.

There is no possible chance that the United States can join the Kyoto Protocol—the people, not the government, will simply not allow it.

The world may think that the government of the United States is the bad boy here. But as far as climate change is concerned, the people controlling the United States’ position are the growing minority of voters in the United States who want nothing to do with climate change negotiations. I’m talking about the skeptics, those people who do not believe climate change is happening and even people who just don’t want to know, and who like everyone else have direct access to their elected leaders. They tell their elected leaders what they want, not the other way round.

Concerning climate change negotiations the most important elected body is the United States Senate and its 100 Senators. They serve at the will of the people and risk losing their elected status if they do not adhere to the wishes of the people. This is known as democracy in action.



Activity in the area of Denmark's pavilion

Activity in the area of Denmark's pavilion



Now you might ask “why doesn’t the President just override them?”

Here’s where it gets tricky. The founding fathers gave the voice to the people in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States stating that while the President can make Treaties, he can do so only with the Advice and Consent of the Senate. If the constituents of enough Senators wish to stop a Treaty they can do so. The Kyoto Protocol is just such a Treaty and can only be ratified by the Senate. As currently composed there are not enough votes in the Senate, driven by the will of a minority of Americans, to even contemplate joining the Kyoto Protocol.

The U.S. Senate will require at least the commitment of the developing world to binding emissions targets outside of the Kyoto Protocol to consider a new Treaty but even that is unlikely at this time.

A regulatory mechanism does exist, and based on a recent ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court, it has the potential to severely restrict greenhouse gas emissions from new sources. This is currently under rule development by the Environmental Protection Agency. At present it may be the best hope the world has to involve the U.S. in binding greenhouse gas emissions targets.

But it remains that the Kyoto Protocol is a non-starter for the United States no matter what the Parties might want at COP15.

Third Planet is attending COP15

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THIRD PLANET is sending a delegation to COP15 in Copenhagen from December 6th to 19th. The delegation’s efforts will include:

  • Observing the UNFCCC proceedings, especially with regard to decisions on Adaptation and Finance, and producing a daily blog post here on our impressions of the conference
  • Engaging stakeholders in discussions about how to improve public awareness and education of the public in the United States per Article 6: Education, Training, and Public Awareness of the Convention, and
  • Engaging stakeholders in discussions about deployment of district heating and cooling (DHC) and combined heat and power (CHP) systems at the community level in the United States. Our approach is based on my presentation and article written for the EGSA Powerline magazine entitled “Cogeneration and Climate Change”. I can be reached at president@thethirdplanet.org for further information.

To receive our daily news from Copenhagen please click on the Subscribe: Posts link at the top right of this page to subscribe to our RSS feed.

Fact of life: All donations – any amount you can contribute to support our work – assist us in maintaining our non-profit status and allows us to continue operating. Please mail your tax deductible donation to Third Planet, PO Box 3822, St. Augustine, FL 32085 and let’s explore how working together we will build a sustainable climate and energy future.




The Everglades and Sustainable Energy Development

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January 14, 2008

Last weekend I moderated a Breakout Session Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Development in the Everglades at the 2008 Everglades Coalition Annual Meeting on Captiva Island. While the panel addressed some key energy and climate change issues of interest to an Everglades audience I was personally surprised that the audience wanted to know more about renewable energy related to their homes rather than exploring further the relationship of sustainable energy development to the Greater Everglades Eco-System. Fortunately for me there were people at the main conference, including ‘Rock’ Salt, my friend and Energy Advisory Committee colleague from the Governor’s Commission for a Sustainable South Florida (1996-97), with whom to share my questions.

What of the relationship between long-term sea level rise, new power plant siting, and restoring water flow to the Everglades, the latter also functioning as a climate change adaptation measure to protect our drinking water from saltwater intrusion. Modeling even 6″ of sea level rise and setting up monitoring stations at the pressure points would help us understand the rate at which change is taking place. Monitoring sea level changes at this time would be analogous to a Hurricane watch, albeit over much longer times, as a precursor to going to a sea level warning. This information has to be invaluable to the Corps of Engineers. Given that over 30% of the Everglades are less than 1 foot above sea level even a 6″ increase would be calamitous. Who is the lead agency for this kind of measurement and monitoring? Is it NOAA, USGS, USACE, someone else? Continue reading →

Fossil Carbon Emissions and Mitigation

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April 2007

On April 14, 2007, I was the moderator of the Step It Up 2007: Jacksonville Public Forum on Climate Change.

I also made a presentation on “Fossil Carbon Emissions and Mitigation” at the event. My presentation is available as a PDF by right-clicking this link.