California Western Professor Richard Finkmoore's new book titled Environmental Law and the Values of Nature, coming out this summer, presents modern U.S. environmental law with a strong emphasis on natural resources, such as biological diversity, water, forests, and federal public lands. It addresses energy issues and the most critical issue of all - climate change.
Res Ispa asked Finkmoore about the importance of environmental issues in the election. "In 2008, the climate crisis will receive more attention in the general election campaign, because the (current) three leading candidates have all taken clear positions on this issue. The nominees for both parties hopefully will be debating the merits of their respective approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions," he began.
"It’s a positive development that global warming - which is more accurately called 'global heating' - has become a dinner-table topic of discussion. But most people in America still do not know how gravely serious the problem actually is, and they are not demanding their political leaders act to address it aggressively and immediately.
"As a nation and as a global society, we have really very little time to do what’s necessary to address the climate crisis. Surely, public interest in this will continue to increase over time, partly because America has lagged behind other countries in this regard, so we are now just catching up. I worry the demand for action will occur only after we experience some of the more dramatic consequences of climate change, such as prolonged drought, water shortages, noticeable sea level rise, possibly forest die-offs. But then it will nearly be too late, due to the long life of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. We have already put so much of this pollution up there, we will certainly feel the increasingly harmful effects for many generations - even if we stopped emitting CO2 tomorrow. This is not just the largest single environmental issue. The climate crisis is the most important issue of any kind facing humanity at this time, in my opinion.
"Some of the candidates have positive positions on environmental issues," Finkmoore says. "Since the climate crisis negatively impacts almost every other environmental problem, their positions on that one issue tell me most of what I need to know.
"Obama and Clinton support fairly strong measures, including mandatory caps on emissions, increased fuel efficiency standards, and renewable energy standards. On the Republican side, McCain was an early supporter of climate change legislation in the Senate, although his bill would not reduce greenhouse gas emissions as much as legislation supported by the two Democrats."
Finkmoore provided insights into economic opportunities arising from global heating. "Russia will be growing corn and hosting tourists in Siberia. Canada will make money from a year-round ice-free Northwest Passage. Once all the ice melts in the Arctic (which is now much closer than previously expected by scientists), a few nations will even be able to drill in the seabed for new supplies of oil and gas (and burn it, producing more GHG emissions).
"However, these possible benefits are only a distraction. A more important point is that there will be some winners, but many, many more economic losers due to the climate crisis. The British government’s Stern Review of the economics of climate change concluded that continuing on our present course risks an economic disruption later this century equivalent to World War I, World War II, and the Great Depression combined. The costs of addressing the problem now, although substantial, are still much less than the ultimate economic costs of business as usual."