I am a writer by profession so I have some clue about the power of words. Today, in Paris, climate scientists from all over the planet have gathered, under the auspices of the UN, to finalize their comprehensive report on global warming and climate change. The 1500 page report is by all accounts extremely alarming in its nearly unanimous agreement that things are literally heating up much faster than previously predicted. One hopes that this will put the final nail in the coffin of the deniers. But it won’t.

The Executive Summary: Watering Down the Message
Today the scientists are dealing with the politicians as they prepare the executive summary of the report. The summary, a 30-50 page document, is critical because 99% of all the coverage the report gets worldwide will come from the summary. As a result the political hacks are converging on this process and doing everthing they can to change its language to support their country’s political stance on global warming. As one scientist said today, they have completed 30% of the summary but used 60% of their available time to do so, all because of wrangling over words.

‘Global Climate Change’
This is the phrase Bush used in the State of the Union address last week. It is notable because the word ‘warming’ is conspicuously absent. This is intentional. If we know one thing about this White House it is that they are very conscious of the power of a phrase: Mission Accomplished, Stay the Course, etc. They can’t use ‘warming’ because that word points a finger directly at the energy industry and also offends some fundamentalists who regard any implication that we caused this mess as a slap in the face of mankind’s inalienable right to do whatever we want. This is the mindset that is driving the process of watering down the message in Paris.

Whether you are a journalist, a blogger or an active reader, it is your duty to tell these politicians that they need to call a spade a spade. No more spinning of language to divert attention away from the most important challenge in mankind’s brief history on this planet. The truth needs to be told as clearly and directly as possible.

‘EEStor claims that, using an automated production line and existing power electronics, it will initially build a 15-kilowatt-hour energy-storage system for a small electric car weighing less than 100 pounds, and with a 200-mile driving range. The vehicle, the company says, will be able to recharge in less than 10 minutes.’

Technology Review (MIT) covers a new company that plans to release new battery technology that, if legit, would revolutionize every aspect of alternative energy. There are significant sceptics but the extremely successful VC firm Kleiner Perkins has invested. I won’t go into the technology (the article does a much better job than I could) but this is definitely one for the watch list.

The New York Times has consistently been one of the leading mainstream media sources for coverage of alternative energy and global warming issues. Today, they have an article on tapping deep (1-2 mile) granite bedrock for geothermal energy harvesting, a source that could provide 10% of our energy needs by 2050. This is the real deal: totally renewable, no emissions, the technology exists today and the source is available globally. It’s not rocket science, in fact it’s very much nineteenth century drilling knowledge that’s required: drill a really deep hole until you hit granite that is always 400 degrees F, pump water down there and use the superheated steam that results to generate power.
There are challenges but none of them are insurmountable or require technology not yet developed. This should be a serious initiative. If I ran an energy company I’d be getting into this now.

Local Twist
Rochester’s downtown sits on just such a granite layer. I’d imagine on of these geothermal plants could cleanly power the entire downtown area.

As I’ve blogged recently, Ethanol production, as proposed by the government, is nothing more than a major subsidy for corporate farm businesses, the oil industry and the US car makers as it costs more to make than it will sell for, it uses corn which we need for food, it requires huge amounts of petro products for its manufacture and it avoids the real immediate solution: mandated automobile fuel efficiency standards. Yet, tonight our President will address the nation and once again call for a huge ethanol initiative.
This is a death march approach to dealing with global warming and our addiction to oil. If we constantly look for a panacea that will let us keep consuming at current levels we will march off a cliff, lemmings to the siren call of the energy industry.
Short term we need a major call to tighten belts, energy-wise, change efficiency mandates and put political pressure on China and India to change their infrastructure. Long term we need renewable energy that does not require storage: geothermal, wave, hydro and other ‘always on’ sources that will be complimented by solar and wind.
Of course this President is so blinded by his own perceived destiny that he is constitutionally incapable of change. I believe long term the war in the Middle East will be superceded by his ignoring of climate change when they tally up the record of the worst leader in American history.