Guardian: UK signs Gore to sell climate case in US

[Greeby]

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1934886,00.html

James Randerson and Tania Branigan
Monday October 30, 2006
The Guardian

Britain is to send the author of today's landmark review on global warming to try to win American hearts and minds to the urgent cause of cutting carbon emissions - as it emerged yesterday that the government has already signed up former US vice-president Al Gore to advise on the environment.

Sir Nicholas Stern, who this morning publishes an authoritative report on climate change warning that inaction could cause a worldwide recession as damaging as the Depression of the 1930s, will lobby politicians and business people in America at the turn of the year.

In a separate development, the environment secretary, David Miliband, said the government was discussing imposing green taxes. But the Treasury, which commissioned Sir Nicholas's study, stressed: "The key message of Stern is that international action is required ... The chancellor decides on taxes and he will do so in the pre-budget report and budget."

The government hopes the review will gain traction in the US because it focuses on the economic case for change. Sir Nicholas's analysis warns that doing nothing about climate change will cost the global economy between 5% and 20% of GDP, while reducing emissions now would cost 1%, equivalent to £184bn.-snip-

[DeepModem Mom]

1. UK Chancellor Gordon Brown to back more emissions trading: Will name Gore an adviser

FT: Brown to back more emissions trading
By Christopher Adams and Jimmy Burns
October 29 2006

Gordon Brown will on Monday throw his weight behind a massive expansion of carbon trading to tackle global warming, rather than raising billions of pounds in green taxes.

The chancellor, flanked by Tony Blair, will useMonday’s release of a report by Sir Nicholas Stern, former World Bank chief economist and a senior UK civil servant, to propose a sweeping overhaul of Europe’s fledgling emissions trading scheme, arguing that climate change is “a global challenge that requires a global solution”.

And, in an effort to push climate change up the international agenda, the chancellor will appoint Al Gore, former US vice-president and an environmental campaigner, as an adviser on green issues.

In a letter to European Union leaders, the chancellor will propose cuts in carbon dioxide emissions of 30 per cent by 2020 and of 60 per cent by 2050.

He will suggest that the scheme, under which industrial polluters have to buy credits to emit more than a set level of greenhouse gases, be extended to cover more than half of all emissions and that trading permits should be auctioned....

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/10e24838-6789-11db-8ea5-0000779e2340.html

[lovuian]

2. Gore is an incredible Advisor

its too bad he can't be our Advisor

[AlGore-08.com]

3. Yup, he keeps showing all this visionary leadership

Head and shoulders above the rest of them...

[IndianaGreen]

4. Bush is in denial about climate change

and his "Jesus Camp" supporters reject science and reason outright. If Florida were to be covered by rising oceans, the Christians that support Bush will blame it on gays and not on global warming.

[Lindacooks]

5. There's something really surreal about this.

I mean, Gore, who is President of this country, is hired by ANOTHER country to sell the reality of global warming in his OWN country?

God, we do live in bizzaro-world, don't we?

[AlGore-08.com]

9. It goes beyond surreal - - the Brits have hired him to save the planet

And Exxon's master plan to stop him is create bogus You Tube videos with pirated Linux penguins.

It's beyond surreal.

[CJCRANE]

6. Gore is the best man for the job...but also...

it's good positioning by Brown in light of the predicted Democratic resurgence in next week's elections.

[Apollo11]

7. sound advice ...

For those who don't know, Gordon Brown - currently the 2nd most powerful man in the British government - is expected to take over from Tony Blair as Prime Minister sometime in the summer of 2007.

I hope Al Gore is getting well paid for this gig, which no doubt includes sending Gordon Brown a signed copy of his book & DVD An Inconvenient Truth ;-)

Gordon Brown has publicly supported supported Blair and Bush on Iraq. He has also invested a great deal in flirting with Rupert Murdoch (owner of British newspapers THE SUN and THE TIMES). He has even promised to invest billions in developing and purchasing a new generation of strategic nuclear missiles to replace Britain's Trident nuclear missile-launching submarines.

He is instinctively pro-American (regularly takes vacations in the US) and anti-European (he blocked Tony Blair's plans to integrate sterling into the euro currency zone).

In Gore We Trust :)
www.algore.org
www.draftgore.com
www.draftgore2008.org
www.climatecrisis.net

[LeftishBrit]

8. Brown has been too much in Blair's pocket, and is too right-wing for my taste;

but I don't think he's as messianic or imperialist by nature as Blair. He will be better than Blair, though possibly not much better.

Glad to hear about Gore's involvement! He is someone whom I really respect.