India Rejects Calls For Emission Cuts

[steven johnson]

Source: Washington Post

By Rama Lakshmi Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, April 13, 2009; Page A08
NEW DELHI -- Days after the Obama administration unveiled a push to combat climate change, Indian officials said it was unlikely to prompt them to agree to binding emission cuts, a position among emerging economies that many say derails effective action.

"If the question is whether India will take on binding emission reduction commitments, the answer is no. It is morally wrong for us to agree to reduce when 40 percent of Indians do not have access to electricity," said a member of the Indian delegation to the recently concluded U.N. conference in Bonn, Germany, which is a prelude to a Copenhagen summit in December on climate change.

"Of course, everybody wants to go solar, but costs are very, very high."
India's position goes to the heart of the vexing international debate over how quickly nations should try to phase out carbon-spewing fuels such as coal and switch to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. In India, the debate has been cast as a choice between pursuing urgently needed economic growth to reduce poverty and addressing climate change.

More than 60 percent of India's power is generated from coal. As India rapidly climbs the list of global polluters, analysts say coal will continue to fuel the economic demands of the country's 1.1 billion people for two decades. But India has repeatedly said that it will not compromise on growth by committing to emission reduction goals set by developed nations, which it deems bigger culprits when it comes to pollution.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/12/AR2009041202452.html?hpid=sec-world

[dysfunctional press]

1. i just hope that i live long enough to see some of the dramatic shit brought on by climate change...

like the shutdown of the gulf stream, or the greenaland ice sheet sliding into the sea.
mankind obviously isn't concerned about stopping any of it...:shrug:
i just hope that things keep speeding up more than expected, as i'm already 48, and won't be around at the end of the century.

[DCKit]

2. OK. But they also use far less energy, per-capita, than the "developed world".

I say we can begin bashing them the minute *our* emissions for 371 million people begin to approach theirs for 1+ billion. It's only fair. But we can't get too demanding either, until after we've matched their per-capita use.

[WriteDown]

4. That would make sense...

since 40% of them do not have electricity. :shrug:

[Odin2005]

3. Jeez, no wonder Obama is thinking of climate engineering.

We can become hyper-Green and if India and China still refuse to work on reducing emissions we are still fucked.

[blue97keet]

9. How much of their emmisions trace to our offshoring of industry?

[The2ndWheel]

5. Hundreds of regional governments acting in their own interests

Privatizing the profits, and socializing the costs.

[TheCoxwain]

6. USA has 15.2 times per capita energy of India and about 3 times overall

Even with a billion people , India pollutes less overall than the United states



End of Discussion. Period

[The2ndWheel]

7. I didn't single out India

There are almost 200 regional governments, and they all act in their own interests, on various issues. Another example would be that the US Government can bomb whoever it wants to, and nobody can stop it from happening.

[TheCoxwain]

8. Sorry .. my reply was meant for OP

[starroute]

10. Would India rather screw up the monsoons?

The study described below is just about the monsoons -- the potential for melting Himalayan glaciers to drastically reduce the flow in India's rivers is a whole separate disaster waiting to happen.


http://www.chinapost.com.tw/life/environment/2009/03/02/198367/Global-warming.htm

Global warming could delay the start of the summer monsoon by five to 15 days within the next century and significantly reduce rainfall in much of South Asia, a recent study has found.

Rising global temperatures will likely lead to an eastward shift in monsoon circulation which could result in more rainfall over the Indian Ocean, Myanmar and Bangladesh but less over Pakistan, India and Nepal, the study found.

It could also result in longer delays between rainy seasons and intensify the risk of deadly floods by leading to a significant increase in average rainfalls in some coastal areas of western India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

That could have a major impact on agriculture, human health and the economies of the region, warned study author Noah Diffenbaugh.


http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2009-02-27-climate-change-asian-monsoon_N.htm

Noah Diffenbaugh, whose research group led the study, said the summer monsoon affects water resources, agriculture, economics, ecosystems and human health throughout South Asia.

"Almost half of the world's population lives in areas affected by these monsoons, and even slight deviations from the normal monsoon pattern can have great impact," said Diffenbaugh, an associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences and interim director of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center.

"Agricultural production, water availability and hydroelectric power generation could be substantially affected by delayed monsoon onset and reduced surface runoff. Alternatively, the model projects increases in precipitation over some areas, including Bangladesh, which could exacerbate seasonal flood risks."