{"id":1199,"date":"2007-02-02T17:01:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-02T23:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/02\/as-historic-global-warming-report-becomes-public-new-mexicos-senators-are-at-forefront-of-debate\/"},"modified":"2007-02-02T17:01:00","modified_gmt":"2007-02-02T23:01:00","slug":"as-historic-global-warming-report-becomes-public-new-mexicos-senators-are-at-forefront-of-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/02\/as-historic-global-warming-report-becomes-public-new-mexicos-senators-are-at-forefront-of-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"As historic global warming report becomes public, New Mexico’s senators are at forefront of debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The most definitive report yet on the cause and predicted effects of global warming comes at a time when New Mexico<\/st1:state>\u2019s two U.S.<\/st1:country-region> senators will be at the forefront of discussions on what the United States<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> should do about it. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The report will also likely be cited by Gov. Bill Richardson as he campaigns for president. One of Richardson<\/st1:city>\u2019s main campaign issues is alternative energy, and he has attempted to make New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> a leading state on the issue in recent years.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The lengthy report<\/a> from a United Nations panel made up of hundreds of scientists from 113 countries, including the United States, issued a bleak report today that found that global warming is \u201cvery likely\u201d caused by human activity, which means the scientists behind the report are 90 percent certain.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

If nothing is done to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the global temperature could increase as much as 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, the report found. More than a million people could die as a result of global warming, and the costs could rise to several billion dollars.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The best-case scenario \u2013 if the world gets greenhouse gas emissions under control quickly \u2013 is an increase of 3 degrees Fahrenheit in the next century, the report states.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The scientists predict that sea levels will rise between 7 and 23 inches by 2100, though recent surprising melting of polar ice sheets could add another 4-8 inches to that estimate.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The worst-case scenario includes the eventual melting of Greenland<\/st1:place>\u2019s ice sheet and a rise of more than 20 feet in the world\u2019s sea levels.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The scientists said humans have already affected the world\u2019s climate enough that higher temperatures and more extreme weather will become the norm over the course of the next century. Drought will become increasingly common in the Southwestern United States<\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

You can read more about the report from the Associated Press by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

A bipartisan search for solutions<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the liberal group Environmental Defense<\/a> named New Mexico\u2019s two senators, Democrat Jeff Bingaman<\/a> and Republican Pete Domenici<\/a>, as two of the 10 \u201cmovers and shakers\u201d on U.S. climate policy.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The two worked together last year to organize a conference at which business leaders spoke in favor of U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> action on climate change. Bingaman is chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; Domenici is the committee\u2019s ranking Republican member.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

When I met with Bingaman last month in Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, he said climate change will be an important topic in the current session of Congress.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cCongress wants to act,\u201d Bingaman told me. \u201cWe hope the White House will act.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Bingaman\u2019s office is in the process of circulating draft legislation, along with Sen. Arlen Specter<\/a>, R-Penn., that would cap emissions and allow the trading of usage permits, which Bingaman told me he believes is \u201cthe most significant action we could take to begin dealing with this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In a statement released today, Bingaman said his staff is working with Specter\u2019s to \u201cconvene a series of workshops and stakeholder briefings to identify and work through the key issues that need to be addressed in order to have a proposal that is worthy of broad bipartisan support in the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Bingaman also said in today\u2019s statement that he\u2019s working with Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer<\/a>, D-Calif., to \u201cpool the experience of our two committees to find the best approach in the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The new report \u201cunderscores the increasingly serious threat of global warming\u201d and is \u201cone more reason why this Congress will be equally serious about passing legislation this year,\u201d Bingaman said. \u201cI would like to see us pass a bill and have the president sign it. We need to start taking action \u2013 we cannot afford to keep kicking the can down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Domenici\u2019s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\n

Bush opposes mandatory caps on emissions<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

President Bush proposed setting mandatory fuel standards and cutting gasoline usage in the United States<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> by 20 percent last month in his State of the Union<\/a> address, but he opposes the mandatory caps on emissions Bingaman is proposing.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Though the United States is responsible for 25 percent of the world\u2019s emissions of carbon dioxide and uses 25 percent of its crude oil, U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said at a news conference today that there needs to be a \u201cglobal discussion\u201d on what to do about global warming because the United States is \u201ca small contributor when you look at the rest of the world,\u201d Reuters<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Still, Bodman said, the Bush Administration agrees with the report.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cHuman activity is contributing to changes in our Earth\u2019s climate, and that issue is no longer up for debate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

As for Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, he had this to say last month in response to Bush\u2019s State of the Union proposals on energy independence and reducing emissions:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIn New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> we\u2019re requiring 10 percent of all energy produced must come from renewable sources, and we\u2019re moving toward 20 percent. We\u2019re providing tax credits for companies developing renewable energy and we\u2019ve taken action to reduce and limit carbon dioxide emissions,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s time for serious action, not lip service.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most definitive report yet on the cause and predicted effects of global warming comes at a time when New Mexico\u2019s two U.S. senators will be at the forefront of discussions on what the United States should do about it. The report will also likely be cited by Gov. Bill Richardson as he campaigns for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}