This evening’s Earth Day events are sure to be abuzz with discussions of the most recent efforts to combat global warming. But if you’ve been slacking on keeping tabs on the climate, fear not: We’ve condensed the biggest news of late for you. After reading through our guide, you’ll be able to make pithy, clever banter with ease…much like how CliffsNotes helped you breeze through that intense discussion on Crime and Punishment in high school.

Totally attractive greenie (TAG) says to you: “Soooo…what did you think of President Bush’s climate change speech last week?”

CliffsNotes for you:

Last Wednesday, April 16, Bush made a short speech about the climate and announced a new national goal: to stop the growth of US greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and begin to reverse them thereafter, so long as technology continues to advance. For the complete speech see here, and for a great analysis of the speech with commentary by readers and experts see journalist Andrew Revkin’s New York Times blog, DotEarth. The general reaction is that Bush’s plan falls frighteningly short of the UN’s predictions of how much CO2 emissions we need to cut to avoid catastrophic effects of climate change.

You reply with a wry smile and say:  “Well, now I’ve decided about buying that property up north…Bush’s plan assures it’ll be a great investment.”

TAG: “Do you think he’s throwing Earth Day a bone? I mean, why now?”

CliffsNotes for you:

Bush’s comments coincided with the first day of a three-day Major Economies Meeting in Paris organized to discuss climate change. While Bush made his speech from the White House, his top global warming advisor Jim Connaughton represented the US at the meeting, which includes 16 nations, plus the EU, who together emit 80 percent of the world’s CO2. Bush launched the series of Major Economies Meetings (Paris was the third) in September 2007 as parallel yet separate talks from the United Nation meetings underway to determine a successor policy to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

Your studied reply:  “The only bones Bush plans to throw between now and next January are for Barney. Word is he timed the speech with the MEM in Paris. Did you hear what the German environment minister had to say about Bush’s plan?”

Clearly impressed with your grasp of climate gossip, TAG shakes his/her head, eager to hear more.

CliffsNotes for you:

Sigmar Gabriel, the German environment minister, was none too impressed with Bush’s climate speech. First he called the plan “neanderthal,” and then said of Bush, "The motto of his speech is: losing instead of leading." But to put these comments in context, under Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany has become a leader in fighting global warming. In August, the country pledged to cut emissions up to 36 percent by 2020 compared with 1990 levels.

You toss off the quotes. TAG chuckles, then falls silent, leaving the ball in your court. Apparently your eco know-how has left him/her star struck and unsure of what to say next.

CliffsNotes for you:

A morsel of big climate change news looms on the June horizon. That’s when the Senate is supposed to debate the merits of the Climate Security Act also known as the Lieberman-Warner bill, which made news in December as the first piece of comprehensive climate change legislation to make it out of committee. But in March, committee chair Barbara Boxer uttered some fighting words in response to a slew of amendments. “If the bill is weakened, two things will happen: We will hold those who weakened it accountable in November. And we will pull the bill and bring back the legislation after we have a new Congress and a new President.”

You rush to the rescue with an easy lob, “It’ll be interesting to see if the Senate discusses the Lieberman-Warner bill this summer.”

TAG’s face brightens with recognition. Back in familiar territory. “Right,” he/she says, “And no matter what happens nationally in the next eight months, the states are moving ahead. Did you hear Ah-nold’s speech last week at Yale?”

Cliff notes for you:

Last Friday, April 18, governors from 18 states signed a climate change declaration stressing that states and the federal government need to partner on climate legislation. Among them were governors Arnold Schwarzenegger from California, Kathleen Sebileus from Kansas, Jon Corzine from New Jersey, and Jodi Rell from Connecticut. All of these governors, and in fact two-thirds of the States, are already pursuing climate goals independent of the White House.

You grin and say in your best German accent, quoting the Governator, “Ladies and gentleman, we can feel the big things moving.” (Here you curl a bicep into the flex position.) “We can feel big things coming together. We can feel the momentum,” you say with enthusiasm, emulating the governor’s closing remarks at Yale. “Every day I see what is happening in California, and I tell you things are about to move our way.”

Posted on Apr 22, 2008 at 8:08 AM
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