DOBRZE POMYSLANE ZMIANY W POSTAWACH PRZED ZMIANAMI W OTOCZENIU







Distinct team answers questions of the broad audience. Very needed
public and
as one can imagine, legislative service for free

 ( USA CO2 legislature and cap and trade are
ever since the conception troublesome as they are not integrated with
the larger trends
and can nopt even be decided in teh educated fashion; never mind that
BUSHLAND AT CATO
 INSTITUTE now opposees experts - see the newer Cato policy 'should'
for the legilature
and do not treat it representative of Cato institute professors, some
300 or so are not
good enough experts fopr teh olegislture; this is only one reasons
that "cap and trade"
 stock for ever)

....
Talk to The Times: Environment Desk

Published: October 12, 2009

Andrew C. Revkin, an environment reporter and Dot Earth blogger, and
Erica Goode, the environment editor, are answering readers' questions
Oct. 12-16, 2009, in Talk to The Times. Questions may be e-mailed to
askthetimes@nytimes.com.


Ms. Goode directs a cluster of eight reporters covering environmental
issues nationally and internationally. She came to The Times in 1998
as the human behavior writer for the Science Department, then in 2003
became the health editor for Science Times.

SAMPLE:





enhouse Gas Legislation

Q. The Times coverage of the greenhouse gas legislation making its way
through Congress has been excellent. It looks like, if anything
passes, we will have some kind of cap-and-trade system. Given all the
compromises that have appeared in the House and Senate bills, will
that and the stimulus money directed at renewable energy get the U.S.
far enough (fast enough) to say we are doing our share to address
climate change?
— H. Balikov

Erica Goode Thanks for the nice compliment about our climate
legislation coverage. Much of it has been written by John Broder, our
Washington environment correspondent, who is also probably in the best
position to give you an intelligent response to your question. I
forwarded it to him, and here is his reply:

    The answer to your question depends to a large extent on the ear
of the beholder. The Obama administration believes that the Waxman-
Markey (House) bill and the outline of the Senate bill we have seen —
plus investments in renewable technology, plus the emissions
reductions under the new vehicle mileage standard — will bring a
substantial reduction in overall U.S. emissions by 2020, perhaps 20
percent below 2005 levels.

    Will that satisfy the Europeans, who are asking for a 25 percent
to 40 percent reduction against a 1990 baseline? No. Is it what the
developing countries are looking for as the rich nations ask them to
slow the growth of their carbon emissions? No. Is it, realistically,
the most that the U.S. political and economic system can bear right
now, in the second half of 2009, amid a recession? Yes.

Tropical Deforestation

Q. Tropical deforestation causes about 20 percent of human-caused
global warming. The U.N. process and U.S. cap and trade legislation in
the House and the Senate have strong provisions to support forest
conservation in developing countries. What do you think are the
critical steps or gaps that need to happen for a new scale of
conservation finance to be successfully deployed, often to countries
with difficult governance issues?
— John O. Niles, director, Tropical Forest Group

A. Your question has hit on a vital issue — governance. This is
particularly important because often the highest rates of
deforestation, particularly illegal deforestation, are in regions or
countries with the least capacity to measure and preserve forests. But
there are other issues, including how — if a utility in the Midwest is
to offset its emissions by buying credits earned by saving forest in
Surinam, say — do you guarantee that the deforestation simply isn't
shifting elsewhere (leakage) or guarantee what's called
"permanence" (the confidence that the forest will stay standing for
generations to come).

This all adds up to a tough challenge, but the eagerness to get
forests into the mix is high — in part because so many economies still
depend deeply on burning fossil fuels. I've explored forests in the
climate context on Dot Earth periodically. Mongabay.com is on my Dot
Earth blogroll because it tracks these issues closely.

Mr. Revkin will primarily field questions about specific environmental
issues, while Ms. Goode will primarily field questions about The
Times's policies and coverage.