Harper: "Global Warming? -wait for China and India...&a

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Harper: "Global Warmi

They will eventually, Das. In the case of China and India, they will buy whatever energy they can as soon as they can. They don't care if it's coal or oil or hydrogen or kinetic energy from gerbils. They have very little infrastructure in place, so that isn't an issue for them. They need energy.

The same goes for enegy-efficient technologies. China is already buying prefab houses from us. Part of what they see as the advantage is the advanced, by their standards, energy efficiency.

If we had started developing clean energy technologies when we should have, we'd be able to sell to sell them to China starting about five years ago. Instead we are planning to sell them oil for the foreseeable future.

 

[MMMike]

Re: Harper: "Global Warming? -wait for China and India.

Keep in mind that increases in efficiency would give us a huge competitive advantage too. And there is a lot of 'low-hanging fruit' out there. I'm talking massive improvements in energy efficiency in buildings with little or no capital cost increases. The technology is there.

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Harper: "Global Warmi

I don't think people really understand that advantage, MMMikey. Not to many people have actually looked at what it costs to heat a commercial building or considered the massive savings that be had by doing some relatively cheap things like insulating and installing vapour barriers.

A guy I know has a 5000 square foot quanset hut. He used to pay a ton to heat it every winter and it was almost unbearable to work in during the summer. He built a little insulated section in it, which is all he really needs to heat, and figures he'll make his money back in one year.

 

[Jay]

RE: Harper: "Global Warming? -wait for China and India.

I think people do understand that though, there just not necessarily willing to sign an international agreement that ties our hands, and one major polluters aren't going to sign, when it's all about adding some insulation.....

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Harper: "Global Warmi

The presence of an international agreement puts pressure on the countries that haven't signed too, Jay. You can expect WTO action against countries that won't sign on very soon. That kind of thing doesn't happen if there's no international agreement.

 

[Jay]

RE: Harper: "Global Warming? -wait for China and India.

Do you really think the WTO is going to take action against the US, China and India?

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Harper: "Global Warmi

They'll at least hear the cases, Jay. That can shift public sentiment in the US enough to have a political effect.

Remember before the last US election when the US was putting illegal tariffs on steel. Britain threatened to impose sanctions that wold affect swing states and the tariffs went away. That didn't happen because Bush changed his mind, it happened because if he didn't back down it would hurt him politically.

 

[MMMike]

Re: RE: Harper: "Global Warming? -wait for China and In

Do you really think the WTO is going to take action against the US, China and India?

China and India are not the 'bad guys', we are!!! We emit far more ghg per capita than than either of those countries. Like, 5 or 6 times more!!

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