Posted by
billyjacksblog.com on Friday, March 09, 2007 4:21:19 AM
There are actually 3 organizations that need to be identified as it relates to the subject of global warming. First, there is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This is the group which actually generated the report. The IPCC’s stated purpose is “to provide regular reviews of climate science to governments and inform policy choices.”
This Panel has a chair (from India) and three vice chairs (from Kenya, Sri Lanka, and the Russian Federation respectively). It consists of 3 work groups. Work Group 1 has the task of assessing scientific aspects of climate change. Work Group 2 assesses the vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change and options for adapting to it. Work Group 3 assesses options for limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
Along with these Work Groups, there is a Task Force Bureau which develops international agreements on methods for calculating and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and removals. They also work to encourage wide spread usage of these methods by countries within the IPCC.
From a scientific perspective, the chairs and vice chairs on these sub-divisions are highly qualified to assess climate change. The concern comes when considering the IPCC’s influence on government policy. Though the most recent report made no recommendations on what policies need to be implemented, the “behind the scene” purpose of this group is to influence environmental policy throughout the world. That fact is alarming when you consider the governments that are represented at the highest levels of this Panel.
Since the United States is expected to carry the heaviest load in terms of the expense of environmental policy change, you would expect it to be well represented at the highest positions of leadership in this Panel. Unfortunately, the only Chair position it occupies is in Work Group 1 which has nothing to do with influencing policy. Work Group 3 along with the Task Force Bureau are the “policy influencing arms” of the IPCC, and the U.S. has no Chair positions on either of those groups. To make matters worse, people in the highest positions of these Panels are from governments who are, at best, neutral toward the U.S. and at worst, enemies of our country.
In view of this, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the welfare of the American people is not going to be served by our government relinquishing policy decisions to these individuals. Our elected officials must keep a steady hand on decisions profoundly impacting the economy of this country and the welfare of its people. After consulting with American experts from the private sector, they must make policy decisions based on the proposals of those experts without regard to what a Panel of our enemies would want us to do.