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EDITORIAL: Climate Change Is Real: N.C. Should See Global Warming As an Opportunity As Well As a Threat

Posted on: Wednesday, 22 February 2006, 06:00 CST

By The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Feb. 22--From Timothy Toben of Chapel Hill, founder & CEO KnowledgeBase Marketing, Inc.:

The N.C. General Assembly must be commended for its action last session establishing a Legislative Commission on Climate Change. The legislators mandated the study of impacts from climate change on our state and appointed 34 members -- legislators, leaders of business and industry, leading scientists and policy experts -- to study the situation and make recommendations.

The commission's members represent the entire political spectrum. Sen. Robert Pittenger sits alone at one end of that spectrum. In his Feb. 5 essay "We aren't changing climate," he cites "authorities" that don't represent the position of scientists or policy-makers around the world, including the National Academy of Sciences and even President Bush. They agree pollution from coal plants, vehicle emissions and other fossil fuels has created a greenhouse gas envelope in our atmosphere that's warming our planet.

Here are the facts. Since the Industrial Revolution, when we began in earnest to burn oil, coal and natural gas, carbon dioxide has been accumulating in our atmosphere. By studying ice cores from around the world, we can measure the amount of carbon dioxide and other gases that were present hundreds of thousands of years ago and compare those levels to today.

That record is precise. It shows that during the past 400,000 years carbon has fluctuated in natural cycles, as Sen. Pittenger says. But CO2 has fluctuated within a narrow range from 180 to 280 parts per million. Human activity has raised atmospheric carbon by 30 percent in just 150 years.

Global temperature rises as carbon dioxide builds up in the atmosphere. We are already seeing and feeling the effects. Globally, 2005 was the hottest year on record. In the past 25 years, temperature has steadily risen, Arctic Sea ice has melted by a million square kilometers, glaciers are retreating worldwide and sea level is rising.

Fragile barrier islands and coastline, susceptibility to more frequent and intense hurricanes and dependence on agriculture and forestry make North Carolina particularly vulnerable.

Lawmakers wisely established a commission to answer the question, "What can we do to protect our citizens and our state and perhaps even capitalize on climate change?" Before even hearing from reputable scientists, industry leaders and other states, Pittenger concluded we can do "nothing." His is not mainstream opinion.

I serve on the Legislative Commission on Climate Change. I recently spoke at the Kenan-Flagler Business School about climate change as a market condition that could stimulate the economy. Billion-dollar industries are on the launch pad ready for policy-makers to start the countdown -- wind and solar energy, energy efficiency technologies, hydrogen fuel cells, hybrid vehicles, biofuels and green building, to name a few.

The intelligence, capital, creativity and will are present today to drive the 21st-century economy in our state. Changing conditions call for vision and innovation. North Carolina can become a hub for these clean technologies.

I'm optimistic that we can find ways to curb greenhouse gas pollution and chart a new course of economic prosperity for the state. I hope Sen. Pittenger will join me in that effort.

Feedback offers persons or groups criticized in Observer editorials, columns or news stories an opportunity to respond. Contact Timothy Toben at 8300 Pickards Meadow Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27516 or email him at tobent@bellsouth.net .

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

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Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

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