Global Warming Will Cost The Earth (In Dollars)

I've not seen this one mentioned anywhere on the left hand side of the pond:

Gordon Brown is about to publish a ground-breaking study which will warn the world that it faces paying multi-trillion pound economic costs if it does not move urgently to act on climate change.

The study, led by Sir Nicholas Stern, a former World Bank economist, is a stark warning to world leaders, especially George Bush, that the climate change issue cannot be stalled by claiming economic competitiveness will be damaged by taking action now.

...Sir Nicholas gave a private briefing on his review to a meeting of leaders of the world's 20 most polluting nations in Mexico yesterday. The report is said to be framed so that the Bush administration recognises it will not cost the earth to solve climate change, but will cost the earth literally and financially if it does not.

Speaking on the opening day of the conference Margaret Beckett, the foreign secretary, said: "It is sound economic sense to respond to climate change and economic nonsense not to."

A government source said the purpose of the Stern report was to make the economics of climate change as incontrovertible as the science. The review will argue that climate change will affect those in the poorest countries who are least able to adapt to the changes. Africa is likely to be severely affected. Some estimates indicate falls of agriculture yields in Africa of up to 12% by 2080, potentially increasing the number of people at risk of hunger by tens of millions.

The report spells out the extra costs of dealing with longer and stronger heatwaves, droughts, rainfall and floods that are already being observed and are expected to become more extreme.

Other economic costs include greater harvest losses, a rise in the spread of tropical diseases, greater soil erosion and less certainty in energy supplies.

I wouldn't hold my breathe about this convincing the Great White Father or his loyalists. They've made a career out of never making mistakes and are hardly likely to begin for something that will be someone else's problem - they will all be retired in two years and it will make more sense to kick the can down the road to the next incumbent and his administration.

Still, there's two important things to say over and above the obvious "oh chit".

one - Brown, Camerob, whatever, the next British leader is not going to see eye-to-eye with Bush over global warming - to a level which is going to seriously impact on diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Two - it's yet another betrayal of the nation's trust by the Bush administration. He's been lying about how good the economy is doing in the runup to the midterms but every sign is that the economy is in fact slowing. Every analyst outside the Republican faithful is predicting a U.S. recession by the end of next year.

Now, you can add the additional costs of failing to take action over global warming to the massive deficits America already has and the even more massive deficits coming around in '08 because of Republican policy of robbing the poor (and merely comfortable) to give to the richest. Your children and grand-children will be paying for the Bush years and will also have been robbed of their natural heritage by his inactions.

If you or I ran our household this way, the bank would pull the plug. In this case, the Chinese are the bankers and Bush is relying on them wishing to keep the dollar as the reserve currency of the world to stave off foreclosure. Would you rely on such a thin thread to hold your household finances up? The Bush administration is running your nation for you in an undisciplined and morally reprehensible way.