Another climate change report

Yet another report on climate change. The second of four to be issued this year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was published in Brussels on Friday. There is so much material on this topic I will not go into it in detail but it is worth noting the Christian Science Monitor has just launched a dedicated website on the subject.

It was also striking that a New York Times leader followed the example of Britain’s Stern Review in arguing there is a choice between doing nothing – or “denial” – and an approach centred on managing energy demand. The Times argued that following last week’s supreme court decision and the publication of the new IPCC report: “One would hope that these events would shake President Bush out of his state of denial and add his authority to the chorus of governors, legislators and business leaders calling for an aggressive regulatory and technological response to the dangers of global warming.” The idea that there might be other ways to tackle climate change, notably bolstering energy supply, is not even considered.