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Under the leadership of PDA and with considerable support from allies in the AFL-CIO, MassCare, UFPJ and other progressive groups, PDA MA succeeded in adding a "Green Amendment" to the Massachusetts Democratic Party Platform on June 6. That amendment sets a specific goal for carbon emissions, at a maximum of 350 ppm. This is a new idea, even for veteran environmentalists.
Massachusetts is a state well known for its leadership on the climate-change front. Its leaders, including Congressman Markey, are working on new federal energy legislation—the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. And of course, under the leadership of Governor Deval Patrick, the state is part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program for 10 northeastern states, as well as the exemplary 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act. That game-changing legislation set a reduction goal of 80% by 2050.
But is all that enough? No, not according to the many grassroots activists across the state, who want even more for its "Green New Deal." Their success in amending the party platform sets the stage for the larger battle ahead—COP15.
They want to promote "those strategies which will quickly stabilize atmospheric carbon dioxide at a maximum of 350 ppm and protect against further climate change." But they want that "in accord with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change." That's because the world will pull back from the climate precipice only with a strong international treaty, the right goal set, and everyone in on it. That happens this December.
350 ppm is the idea of the nation's number-one climate scientist, James Hansen (see http://350.org/). Having spent his career working on climate models, Hansen is aware that in some respects the real world is outstripping previous models, including those used by the IPCC for its historic Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change. [Editor’s Note: Hansen prefers a carbon tax and dividend approach. See this article.]
Arctic sea ice was reaching record lows; many of Greenland’s glaciers were retreating; the tropics were expanding. “What was clear was that climate models are our weakest tool, in that you can’t trust their sensitivity in any of these key areas,” he says. Those warning signs—and his studies of past climate change—led Hansen to conclude that only by pulling CO2 concentrations down below today’s value could humanity avert serious problems. (See Climate Crunch).
The mainstream school of climatologists might find 450 ppm acceptable. But that's old-school now, taking into account all the science published since 2006 that confirms a near term climate tipping point and its potential to accelerate the sixth great mass extinction event now underway.
That's the idea behind an absolute mandate to "stabilize atmospheric carbon dioxide at a maximum of 350 ppm." It’s a big idea with monumental consequences. Let's see if our activists can make something of the fact that it’s now the mandate of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, and pry loose some new victories on the global-warming solutions front.
Join PDA's Stop Global Warming/Environmental Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.
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