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New investment is essential
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- Reducing emissions is key
- Reduces fossil fuels / emissions
- Coal for electricity places the entire planet at risk and should be displaced by clean energy sources
- Coal decline causes a decrease in emissions-empirics prove
- Marine renewables emit substantially less greenhouse gases than fossil fuels
New investment is essentialNew investments in mitigation technologies can meet the 2 degree goal(IPCC), April 13, 2014, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Press Release: “IPCC: Greenhouse gas emissions accelerate despite reduction efforts,” http://ipcc.ch/pdf/ar5/pr_wg3/20140413_pr_pc_wg3_en.pdf, Accessed 5/2/2014 “Many different pathways lead to a future within the boundaries set by the two degrees Celsius goal,” Edenhofer said. “All of these require substantial investments. Avoiding further delays in mitigation and making use of a broad variety of technologies can limit the associated costs.” Estimates of the economic costs of mitigation vary widely. In business-as-usual scenarios, consumption grows by 1.6 to 3 percent per year. Ambitious mitigation would reduce this growth by around 0.06 percentage points a year. However, the underlying estimates do not take into account economic benefits of reduced climate change. A clean energy transition is inevitable, but the longer we delay the less we’ll solve. Increasing investment in renewables is keyBrandon Baker, April 14, 2014, “New IPCC Report: Fossil Fuel Divestment Must Start Now,” Ecowatch, http://ecowatch.com/2014/04/14/ipcc-fossil-fuel-divestment/, Accessed 5/2/2014 Renewable energy can power our society, drive the economy, and give us cleaner air. Moving from fossil fuel based energy supplies to renewables will result in a wide range of benefits—including new jobs and improved public health. The clean energy transition is inevitable, people are demanding it, and it is already underway. Governments need to put in place the enabling policies so these technologies can be scaled up faster. The longer we delay action to foster the low carbon transition, the more expensive addressing climate change will get. At a UN summit in September, world leaders must commit to deeper cuts in emissions and faster shifts in energy finance from dirty fossil fuels to clean renewables. This will lay the groundwork for the strong global climate treaty that’s due in Paris in 2015. Reducing emissions is keyReducing emissions from fossil fuel plants is essential to meet the 2 degree goalBrandon Baker, April 14, ‘14, “New IPCC Report: Fossil Fuel Divestment Must Start Now,” Ecowatch, http://ecowatch.com/2014/04/14/ipcc-fossil-fuel-divestment/, Accessed 5/2/2014 Limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius means lowering global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 40 to 70 percent, compared to 2010 levels, according to the report. That needs to happen by the middle of this century, with the recommendation of getting warming levels to net-zero by the end of the century. Clearly, that will be tough considering that annual GHG emissions grew by 2.2 percent per year from 2000 to 2010. From 1970 to 2000, the figure was 1.3 percent. The report suggests letting go of oil and coal before it’s too late. The growth of coal, particularly in Asia, was a direct pathway to the GHG boom from 2000 to 2010, the IPCC states. Current emissions reduction policies are not enough. Only major reductions with new technologies can avoid the 2 degree threshold(IPCC), April 13, ‘14, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Press Release: “IPCC: Greenhouse gas emissions accelerate despite reduction efforts,” http://ipcc.ch/pdf/ar5/pr_wg3/20140413_pr_pc_wg3_en.pdf, Accessed 5/2/2014 A new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that global emissions of greenhouse gases have risen to unprecedented levels despite a growing number of policies to reduce climate change. Emissions grew more quickly between 2000 and 2010 than in each of the three previous decades. According to the Working Group III contribution to the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report, it would be possible, using a wide array of technological measures and changes in behaviour, to limit the increase in global mean temperature to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. However, only major institutional and technological change will give a better than even chance that global warming will not exceed this threshold. The report, entitled Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change, is the third of three Working Group reports, which, along with a Synthesis Report due in October 2014, constitute the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report on climate change. Working Group III is led by three Co-Chairs: Ottmar Edenhofer from Germany, Ramón Pichs-Madruga from Cuba, and Youba Sokona from Mali. “Climate policies in line with the two degrees Celsius goal need to aim for substantial emission reductions,” Edenhofer said. “There is a clear message from science: To avoid dangerous interference with the climate system, we need to move away from business as usual.” Scenarios show that to have a likely chance of limiting the increase in global mean temperature to two degrees Celsius, means lowering global greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 70 percent compared with 2010 by mid-century, and to near-zero by the end of this century. Ambitious mitigation may even require removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Reduces fossil fuels / emissionsCO2 is increasing now and disturbing ocean life and marine renewables are essential to reduce emissions. Any wildlife responses would be local and the impacts are not supported by scienceManuela Truebano, et al., June 19, ‘13, Ph.D., Lecturer in Marine Biology at the Plymouth Marine Institute, Plymouth University, “Marine Renewables, Biodiversity and Fisheries,” Plymouth Marine Institute at Plymouth University, http://www.foe.co.uk/sites/ default/files/downloads/marine_ renewables_biodiver.pdf, Accessed 4/28/2014 A decade after the Kyoto protocol, CO2 emissions continue to increase, as atmospheric levels cross the symbolic mark of 400 ppm. This is leading to increased temperature and CO2 levels (and consequently acidity of the oceans) with effects on ocean productivity, food web dynamics, abundance of habitat-forming species and species distributions. Globally, Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) will assist in the effort to reduce carbon emissions worldwide, thus mitigating climate change and minimising its effects on fish and benthic communities. However, the construction and operation of MRE devices, like any large-scale development, will inevitably result in changes to the marine environment on a local scale, which may induce responses in fish and benthos. These responses are likely to have both positive and negative effects on individuals and communities on a local scale, but it is not clear that the documented responses lead to negative, long-term impacts at the population level. Coal for electricity places the entire planet at risk and should be displaced by clean energy sourcesUnion of Concerned Scientists, ‘14, staff writer, January 14, “Smart Energy Solutions: Decrease Coal Use,” http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/smart-energy-solutions/decrease-coal/, Accessed 5/2/2014 Coal is a dirty energy source. It pollutes our environment with toxins, produces a quarter of U.S. global warming emissions, and accounts for a whopping 80 percent of all carbon emissions produced by power generation nationwide. When we burn coal for electricity, we place our health, our environment, and our planet at risk. It’s time to reduce our dependence on this polluting energy source. There are nearly 600 coal-fired power plants operating in the United States today, producing almost half of the nation’s electricity. To decrease our reliance on coal, we must shut down the oldest and dirtiest coal plants and replace them with reliable and clean energy sources. UCS experts work to analyze practical, cost-effective strategies for lowering America’s coal use—and have consistently demonstrated that closing down the dirtiest coal-fired power plants would not adversely effect the reliability of our electricity supply, nor would it significantly increase the cost of electricity for consumers. Coal decline causes a decrease in emissions-empirics proveBanerjee, 11, Los Angeles Times Energy and Environment Reporter, Neela, Yale University Graduate, 5-15-13, “EPA: U.S. greenhouse gases drop 1.6 from 2010 to 2011”, accessed 10-17-13,http://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/15/news/la-pn-us-greenhouse-gases-decrease-20130415, aaw WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency says greenhouse gas emissions in the United States showed a 1.6% decline from 2010 to 2011. The decrease continued an overall decline in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, down 6.9% since 2005. The EPA said the drop from 2010 to 2011 is driven mostly by power plants switching from coal to natural gas, which emits less carbon dioxide when burned. Additionally, a mild winter in the south Atlantic region of the U.S., where much of the heating is electric, resulted in lower electricity demand. Marine renewables emit substantially less greenhouse gases than fossil fuelsSchaumberg and Grace-Tardy ’10 Peter J. Schaumberg, counsel and Ami M. Grace-Tardy, Winter 2010, associate, both with Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., “The Dawn of Federal Marine Renewable Energy Development,” Natural Resources & Environment, Vol. 24, No. 3, http://www.bdlaw.com/assets/htmldocuments/2010%20The%20Dawn%20of%20Federal%20Marine%20 Renewable%20Energy%20Development%20NRE%20P%20Schaumberg%20and%20A.%20Grace-Tardy.pdf, Accessed 4/28/2014 The potential environmental costs associated with marine renewable energy must be balanced with the environmental benefits of harnessing a renewable resource that emits substantially less greenhouse gases than traditional energy sources. Although marine renewable energy may likely have fewer negative environmental effects overall than traditional energy sources and will undoubtedly emit less greenhouse gases, this sector, like the traditional energy sector, must comply with a broad range of regulatory requirements before receiving government approval. 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Power plants are the single biggest source of greenhouse gases, with 33%. The transportation sector is second, with 28% of emissions. Increases in vehicle fuel economy through 2025 should reduce transportation emissions even further. Greater switching to natural gas from coal will cut power plant emissions. President Obama has pledged to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. Despite the general decline in greenhouse gas emissions, many experts contend that the administration would have to take further steps to meet the 2020 goal.