The Climate Plan and its various parts have been discussed in many post at Arctic-news blog over the years.
Now is the time to support the Climate Plan and to make sure that it will be considered at many forums, such as the Climate Summit, to be held September 23, 2014, at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, and preparations for the UNFCCC Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015.
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Emission cuts
In nations with both federal and state governments such as the U.S., the President (or Head of State or Cabinet, basically where executive powers are held) can direct:
- federal departments and agencies to reduce their emissions for each type of pollutant annually by a set percentage, say, CO2 and CH4 by 10%, and HFCs, N2O and soot by higher percentages.
- the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make states each achieve those same reductions.
- the EPA to monitor progress by states and to step in with more effective action in case a state looks set to miss one or more targets.
(More effective action in such a case would be to impose (federal) fees on applicable polluting products sold in the respective state, with revenues used for federal benefits. Such federal benefits could include building interstate High-Speed Rail tracks, adaptation and conservation measures, management of national parks, R&D into batteries, ways to vegetate deserts and other land use measurements, all at the discretion of the EPA. Fees can be roughly calculated as the average of fees that other states impose in successful efforts to meet their targets.)
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| Target: 80% cut everywhere for each type of pollutant by 2020 (to be managed locally provided targets are met) |
Carbon dioxide removal and storage
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| Target: restore atmosphere and ocean to long term average by 2100 (with each nation's annual contributions to reflect its past emissions) |
Energy feebates can best clean up energy, while other feebates (such as pictured in the above diagram) can best raise revenue for carbon dioxide removal. Energy feebates can phase themselves out, completing the necessary shift to clean energy within a decade. Carbon dioxide removal will need to continue for much longer, so funding will need to be raised from other sources, such as sales of livestock products, nitrogen fertilizers and Portland cement.
A range of methods to remove carbon dioxide would be eligible for funding under such feebates. To be eligible for rebates, methods merely need to be safe and remove carbon dioxide.
There are methods to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and/or from the oceans. Rebates favor methods that also have commercial viability. In case of enhanced weathering, this will favor production of building materials, road pavement, etc. Such methods could include water desalination and pumping of water into deserts, in efforts to achieve more vegetation growth. Selling a forest where once was a desert could similarly attract rebates.
Some methods will be immediately viable, such as afforestation and biochar. It may take some time for methods such as enhanced weathering to become economically viable, but when they do, they can take over where afforestation has exhausted its potential to get carbon dioxide back to 280ppm.
Additionally, conservation and land use measures could help increase carbon storage in ecosystems.
Solar radiation management
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| Target: prevent Arctic Ocean from warming by more than 1°C above long term average (U.N. supervised) |
Extra fees on international commercial aviation could provide funding for ways to avoid that the temperature of the atmosphere or the oceans will rise by more than 1°C above long term average.
Due to their potential impact across borders, these additional lines of action will need ongoing research, international agreement and cooperation.
Land, clouds, wind, water, snow and ice management
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| Target: increase Arctic snow and ice cover (U.N. supervised) and restore it to its long term average |
Extra fees on international commercial aviation could also provide funding for ways to cool the Arctic and restore the snow and ice cover to its long term average extent.
As said, due to their potential impact across borders, these additional lines of action will need ongoing research, international agreement and cooperation.
Methane management and further action
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| Target: relocate vulnerable Arctic clathrates (U.N. supervised) and restore mean atmospheric CH4 level to long term average by 2100 (with each nation's annual contributions to reflect its past emissions. |
Vulnerable hydrates should be considered to be relocated under U.N. supervision.
Besides this, local action can be taken to reduce methane levels in the atmosphere with each nation's annual contributions to reflect its past emissions.
Adaptation, conservation and land use measures could further improve the situation.
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