Climate Change and War

Four U.S. delegates checked in yesterday at the Ayodya Hotel. Is this all? I’ll confirm this number later today, when the formal session of the UN’s Climate Change Conference begins. A related question: has funding the Iraq War cut into the U.S. travel budget?

To my knowledge, no one has put the WAR card on the table here. One expert’s estimate is that carbon emissions worldwide would drop by 30% if all wars stopped. 

Carbon emissions from the burning of forests - for cattle production - would drop another 20% if people worldwide simply cut their consumption of meat in half.

This simple equation would be difficult to negotiation but is easy to understand. If all wars stopped, and people cut their meat consumption in half, carbon emissions worldwide would drop by an estimated 50% overnight.

The U.S. delegates and other developed countries could also offer to pay a carbon credit beginning at $6 per ton of carbon stored in the trees. It would vary based on each country’s needs.

Those countries where palm oil plantations cause deforestation, might require far more than $6/ton to halt forest loss and loss of the Orangutan which lives in those diminishing forests. Countries could then use that money for training: to convert farmers into forest managers, or other job training.


And that’s not all. There is also huge potential for carbon emission reduction in transportation. I’m told that China is developing policy to require automakers to deliver 40 mpg. If the U.S. were to agree to follow China’s lead, then everyone here at the conference could turn out the lights and head to the beach for a holiday. Climate change reversed. Mission accomplished…!

So what’s wrong with this picture? Why is no one talking about CO2 emissions caused by the more than 50 wars and military actions going on around the world each day, especially the U.S. led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? 

Could this be another “born again” attempt to get to heaven and let the rest of the world “go to hell?”

Five years ago, I shared a table at lunch with a healthy, young “born again” Christian. At some point in the conversation, he announced, “I can’t wait until I die.” Surprised by this comment, I asked him why. “Because then I can go to heaven and be with Christ.”

Is Bush also a True Believer? Has he read Christopher Hitchen’s book: God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything? Is Bush’s end game plan to shut down the party, so he can get on with his “Life after life?”

I can’t give you an answer on this, but I can check into the U.S. delegate issue, and report back.