Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change (2010) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix B: The American Experience with Complex Decisions: Past Examples
Appendix B: The American Experience with Complex Decisions: Past Examples
Pages 303-310
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From page 303... ...
Historical analogies also remind us that the United States has successfully overcome complex and difficult problems in the past. Each example below shares important similarities with the challenge of climate change; however, each also differs in important ways.
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From page 304... ...
emissions that cause climate change, these emissions come from a variety of industrial processes taking place in both developed and developing countries, with the bulk of such emissions originating historically from the industrialized world. Also as in the case of climate change, scientific research discovered an unintended consequence of modern industrial activities that is largely invisible to the eye yet has potentially very serious global consequences.
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From page 305... ...
Climate change, however, is driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels, for which there are currently few comparable alternatives; they are produced by some of the world's largest companies; they provide the primary source of income for a number of key nations; and they supply the primary source of energy for the world. Furthermore, ozone depletion threatened significant personal health consequences because UV-B light is associated with increased rates of skin cancer.
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From page 306... ...
Compared to climate change, the required responses -- quarantine and vaccination -- were relatively quick, were inexpensive, and did not fundamentally challenge existing social and economic patterns. Nonetheless, there are parallels to some of the risks associated with climate change, including increases in vector-borne or diarrheal infections that often afflict the poor; effective responses can reduce overall vulnerability to these impacts of climate change just as it did to smallpox.
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From page 307... ...
THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD To address climate change, the government must help catalyze a technology and infrastructure revolution that will transform the way Americans produce and consume energy. This would not be the first time the U.S.
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From page 308... ...
Instead, the federal government provided strong financial incentives to the private sector that catalyzed the widespread deployment and use of a new technology that transformed the world. WORLD WAR II The massive national mobilization required to fight and win World War II may have some useful lessons for the prevention of catastrophic climate change (Bartels, 2001; Brown, 2009)
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From page 309... ...
Preventing dangerous levels of climate change will also require changes in the way American society produces and consumes energy and significant changes across economic and political sectors, both within the United States and internationally. While WWII reminds us what the United States can achieve when it is motivated, it is also important to recognize that climate change presents a different set of challenges.
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From page 310... ...
The United States has the proven ability to revolutionize technology and the nation's infrastructure, mobilize around a common purpose, work with other nations to combat common threats, and solve major environmental problems at far less cost than originally expected. Previous generations have successfully addressed problems of similarly daunting complexity, uncertainty, and scale.
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