some quotations on climate change from the world of politics and elsewhere

Image: Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, © Dan Breckwoldt | Dreamstime.com

Some Quotations on Climate Change from the World of Politics and Elsewhere

Collated by Paul MahonyNovember 2013

terrastendo.net

Some quotesP

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“This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.”

Some quotesP

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President Lyndon Johnson, 1965

Some quotes

President Lyndon Johnson, 1965 message to Congress, cited in The Science Show, ABC Radio National, 8 January,

2011, “Naomi Areskes – Merchants of Doubt”.

Seal of the President of the United States © Americanspirit | Dreamstime.comPaul M

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Some quotes

Presidents since then:




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Some quotes

Richard Nixon





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Some quotes

Richard Nixon


Gerald Ford




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Richard Nixon


Gerald Ford

Jimmy Carter




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Some quotes

Richard Nixon


Gerald Ford

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan




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Some quotes

Richard Nixon


Gerald Ford

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan

George Bush, Snr




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Some quotes

Richard Nixon


Gerald Ford

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan

George Bush, Snr

Bill Clinton




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Some quotes

Richard Nixon


Gerald Ford

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan

George Bush, Snr

Bill Clinton

George W. Bush




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Some quotes

Richard Nixon


Gerald Ford

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan

George Bush, Snr

Bill Clinton

George W. Bush

Barack Obama




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Some quotes



Seal of the President of the United States © Americanspirit | Dreamstime.com

Richard Nixon


Gerald Ford

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan

George Bush, Snr

Bill Clinton

George W. Bush

Barack Obama

EMISSIONS HAVE ACCELERATED!

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“Not only is it real, it's here, and its effects are giving rise to a frighteningly new global phenomenon: the man-made natural disaster.”

Some quotesP

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Barack Obama, 3 April 2006

Some quotesP

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Barack Obama, 3 April 2006, cited in Spratt, D, “Bridging the gap between science and politics”, Climate Action Summit, 9 April, 2011, http://www.climateactioncentre.org/sites/default/files/1104%20-recent-science.pdfImage: President Barack Obama © Kurniawan1972 | Dreamstime.com




Some quotes

SO WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ABOUT IT MISTER PRESIDENT?

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Some quotes

SO WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ABOUT IT MISTER PRESIDENT?

LET’S HOPE YOUR CLEAN POWER PLAN IS NOT TOO

LITTLE, TOO LATE.


Romm, J, Climate Progress, “’Invest, Divest’: Obama Goes Full Climate Hawk In Speech Unveiling Plan To Cut Carbon Pollution”Paul M

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Some quotesP

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“The climate change argument is absolute crap.”

Some quotesP

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Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott

Some quotes

Then Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, 2009, quoted on ABC TV “7.30 Report”, 2nd Feb, 2010, http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2808321.htm

Image: No Carbon Tax Rally ID 18918621 © Phillip Minnis | Dreamstime.com

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Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott

Some quotes

Then Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, 2009, quoted on ABC TV “7.30 Report”, 2nd Feb, 2010, http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2808321.htm

Image: No Carbon Tax Rally ID 18918621 © Phillip Minnis | Dreamstime.com

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We’re sophisticated and knowledgeable in

Australia.

The need is urgent!

The need is urgent!“ . . . the world stands . . .

The need is urgent!on the edge of a precipice . . .“ . . . the world stands . . .


beyond which human actions will no longer be able to control in any meaningful way the trajectory of the climate system . . .”


beyond which human actions will no longer be able to control in any meaningful way the trajectory of the climate system . . .”

David Spratt, co-author of “Climate Code Red: the case for emergency action”, 2008Source: “Global Warming – No more business as usual: This is an emergency!”, Environmental Activists’

Conference ’08: Climate Emergency – No More Business as Usual, 10 October, 2008, reproduced in Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal, http://links.org.au/node/683

Australian Climate Commission: “The Angry Summer”, http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/136923/20130919-

1415/climatecommission.gov.au/report/the-angry-summer/index.html

Australia’s “Angry Summer” 2012/13P

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Australian Climate Commission: “The Angry Summer”, http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/136923/20130919-

1415/climatecommission.gov.au/report/the-angry-summer/index.html

Australia’s “Angry Summer” 2012/13P

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“Statistically, there is a 1 in 500 chance that we

are talking about natural variation causing all

these new records.”

Australian Climate Commissioner Prof. Will Steffen, The Age 4 Mar 2013,

“Climate change a key factor in extreme weather, experts say”

Connor, S, “Vast methane 'plumes' seen in Arctic ocean as sea ice retreats”, The Independent, 13 December,

2011, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/vast-methane-plumes-seen-in-arctic-ocean-as-sea-ice-retreats-

6276278.html (Accessed 4 February 2012)

• Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane . . . have been seen bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an extensive survey of the region.

• The scale and volume of the methane release has astonished the head of the Russian research team who has been surveying the seabed of the east Siberian Arctic Shelf off northern Russia for nearly 20 years.

• Igor Semiletov of the International Arctic Research Centre at the University of Alaska Fairbanks . . . said that he has never before witnessed the scale and force of the methane being released from beneath the Arctic seabed.

Dramatic and unprecedented

astonished

has never before witnessed the scale and force

of the methane being released from beneath the Arctic seabed.

Paul M

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Permafrost

(It’s not all a direct quote, but it’s pretty close.)





astonished



Permafrost

(It’s not all a direct quote, but it’s pretty close.)

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astonished



Permafrost

"We carried out checks at about 115 stationary points

and discovered methane fields of a fantastic scale - I

think on a scale not seen before. Some of the plumes

were a kilometre or more wide and the emissions went

directly into the atmosphere - the concentration was a

hundred times higher than normal."

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PermafrostP

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Some thoughts on climate-related risk management

“Perhaps the greatest flaw in the climate debate has been our inability, or refusal, to address risk and uncertainty realistically.”

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Some thoughts on climate-related risk managementP

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“Scientists are giving increasingly urgent warnings on the mounting evidence of human-induced warming and the need for rapid carbon emission reductions.”



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“Officialdom chooses to ignore these warnings, preferring policy based on ‘political realism’, shorthand for hoping the problem will go away.”




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“Business, supposedly the experts on risk management, should takeleadership, but have abrogated any responsibility, given that realistic action will require a fundamental redesign of the economic system, undermining established vested interests.”





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“The result is that nobody is seriously addressing the strategic risks to

which we are exposed.”












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“Interview with Ian Dunlop”, Australian Centre for Leadership for Women, 8 March, 2012,

http://www.leadershipforwomen.com.au/transform/aclw-articles-published/expert-climate-change-panel/item/ian-dunlop

Ian Dunlop, 2012

Former international oil, gas and coal industry

executive.








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“Interview with Ian Dunlop”, Australian Centre for Leadership for Women, 8 March, 2012,

http://www.leadershipforwomen.com.au/transform/aclw-articles-published/expert-climate-change-panel/item/ian-dunlop

Ian Dunlop, 2012

Former international oil, gas and coal industry

executive.

Roles included Chair of the Australian Coal

Association and CEO of the Australian Institute of

Company Directors.

Paul M

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Former British PM, Margaret Thatcher

1989: British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher speaking to the United Nations General Assembly for

the first time in four years (choosing to focus solely on

the environment)

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Speech to United Nations General Assembly (Global Environment), 8 November,

1989, Margaret Thatcher Foundation, http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107817

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the environment)



“Of all the challenges faced by the world community in

those four years, one has grown clearer than any other

in both urgency and importance. I refer to the threat to

our global environment. I shall take the opportunity of

addressing the general assembly to speak on that

subject alone.”

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the environment)



“Of all the challenges faced by the world community in

those four years, one has grown clearer than any other

in both urgency and importance. I refer to the threat to

our global environment. I shall take the opportunity of

addressing the general assembly to speak on that

subject alone.”

“We are seeing a vast increase in the amount of carbon dioxide reaching the

atmosphere. The annual increase is three billion tonnes, and half the carbon

emitted since the Industrial Revolution still remains in the atmosphere. At the

same time as this is happening, we are seeing the destruction on a vast scale

of tropical forests which are uniquely able to remove carbon dioxide from the

air.”

Telling it like it is

Dr James Hansen, former director, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NASA

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Source: Hansen, J., “Climate change is here — and worse than we thought”, The Washington Post, 4 August 2012,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/climate-change-is-here--and-worse-th%20an-we-thought/2012/08/03/6ae604c2-dd90-11e1-8e43-4a3c4375504a_story.htmlP

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“When we plotted the world’s changing temperatures on a bell curve, the extremes of unusually cool and, even more, the extremes of unusually hot are being altered so they are becoming both more common and more severe.”



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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/climate-change-is-here--and-worse-th%20an-we-thought/2012/08/03/6ae604c2-dd90-11e1-8e43-4a3c4375504a_story.html




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“Extremely hot temperatures covered about 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent of the globe in the . . . period from 1951 to 1980. In the last three decades, while the average temperature has slowly risen, the extremes have soared and now cover about 10 percent of the globe.”


http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/climate-change-is-here--and-worse-th%20an-we-thought/2012/08/03/6ae604c2-dd90-11e1-8e43-4a3c4375504a_story.html

Hansen on Canadian Tar Sands


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“If Canada proceeds [in extracting tar sands oil], and we do nothing, it will be game over for the climate.”

Source: Hansen, J., “Game Over for the Climate”, The New York Times, 9 May 2012,

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/opinion/game-over-for-the-climate.html?_r=1&

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“Canada’s tar sands, deposits of sand saturated with bitumen, contain twice the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by global oil use in our entire history.”



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“Canada’s tar sands, deposits of sand saturated with bitumen, contain twice the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by global oil use in our entire history.”



“. . . it will be game over for the climate.”

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Hansen on Meat


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Hansen on Meat


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“ . . . in our personal life styles, the most

effective action is to begin to alter our diet more toward vegetarian . . . I have become

80%-90% vegetarian.”

Source: Submission to the Garnaut Review by Geoff Russell, Peter Singer and Barry Brook,

http://www.climatechange.gov.au/greenpaper/consultation/pubs/0409-russell.pdf

Cow Image: Brahman Bull | iStockphoto.com | tap10

Hansen on Meat


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“ . . . in our personal life styles, the most

effective action is to begin to alter our diet more toward vegetarian . . . I have become

80%-90% vegetarian.”

Source: Submission to the Garnaut Review by Geoff Russell, Peter Singer and Barry Brook,

http://www.climatechange.gov.au/greenpaper/consultation/pubs/0409-russell.pdfRussell, G, “Dietary Guidelines Committee ignores climate change”, 24 March 2012, http://bravenewclimate.com/2012/03/24/dietary-gc-ignores-cc/

“If you eat further down on the food chain rather

than animals, which have produced many

greenhouse gases, and used much energy in the process of growing that meat, you can

actually make a bigger contribution in that way than just about anything. So that, in terms of

individual action, is perhaps the best thing you can do.”

More on Meat

“Please eat less meat; meat is a very carbon intensive commodity ... This is something that the IPCC was afraid to say earlier, but now we have said it.”

More on Meat

Source: Agence France-Presse, “Lifestyle changes can curb climate change: IPCC chief”, 15 January, 2010, http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIVBkZpOUA9Hz3Xc2u-61mDlrw0Q

Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Head of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)

“Please eat less meat; meat is a very carbon intensive commodity ... This is something that the IPCC was afraid to say earlier, but now we have said it.”

More on Meat

The Western Diet

The Western Diet

Animal food products place . . .

“undue demand on land, water, and other resources required for intensive food production, which makes the typical Western diet not only undesirable from the standpoint of health but also environmentally unsustainable”

Animal food products place . . .

“undue demand on land, water, and other resources required for intensive food production, which makes the typical Western diet not only undesirable from the standpoint of health but also environmentally unsustainable”

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, 2002

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization, “Human Vitamin and Mineral Requirements: Report of a joint FAO/WHO expert consultation Bangkok, Thailand”, 2001, pp. 14,

ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/004/y2809e/y2809e00.pdf and http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/Y2809E/y2809e08.htm

The Western Diet

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The Western Diet

“Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”

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The Western Diet

“Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”

Henning Steinfeld, United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization,

2006 (Co-author of the UN FAO’s “Livestock’s Long Shadow” report)

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FAO Newsroom “Livestock a major threat to environment - Remedies urgently needed”, 29 Nov 2006,

http://www.fao.org/NEWSROOM/EN/news/2006/1000448/index.html

Image: FAO name with flag © Fabrizio Mariani | Dreamstime.com

The Western Diet

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The Western Diet

“A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change, a UN report said today.”

The Guardian, 2nd June 2010

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The Western Diet

Carus, F, “UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet”, 3 June 2010,

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet

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The Western Diet

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“A new and hard-hitting report concludes that dramatically reforming, re-thinking and redesigning two sectors - energy and agriculture - could generate significant environmental, social and economic returns.”

The Western Diet

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“Perhaps controversially, it . . . calls for a significant shift in diets away from animal based proteins towards more vegetable-based foods in order to dramatically reduce pressures on the environment.”

The Western Diet

“. . . substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products.”

Paul M

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The Western Diet

“. . . substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products.”

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United Nations Environment Program “Energy & Agriculture Top Resource Panel’s Priority List for Sustainable 21st Century”, 2 June 2010,

http://www.unep.org/wed/2010/english/media/EnergyAgric.asp

United Nations Environment Programme, June 2010

The Western Diet

Time to actP

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Dr Andrew Glikson, earth and paleoclimate scientist at Australian National

University

“Contrarian claims by sceptics,

misrepresenting direct observations in

nature and ignoring the laws of physics,

have been adopted by neo-conservative

political parties.”


University

Sources: Glikson, A., “As emissions rise, we may be heading for an ice-free planet”, The Conversation, 18 January, 2012,http://theconversation.edu.au/as-emissions-rise-we-may-be-heading-for-an-ice-free-planet-4893 (Accessed 4 February 2012). Image: Earth © Pmakin | Dreamstime.com

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Time to act

“A corporate media maintains a

‘balance’ between facts and fiction.”







University


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Time to act

“The best that governments seem to do

is devise cosmetic solutions, or promise

further discussions, while time is

running out.”









University


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Time to act

“The best that governments seem to do

is devise cosmetic solutions, or promise

further discussions, while time is

running out.”








“GOOD PLANETS ARE HARD TO COME BY!”


University


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Time to act

More to come!

some quotations on climate change from the world of politics and elsewhere

News & Politics