Copenhagen or bust

Newsweek by Gordon Brown | Sep. 22, 2009 (Opinion)

If we miss this opportunity, there will be no second chance sometime in the future, no later way to undo the catastrophic damage to the environment we will cause. So when world leaders gather this week, first at the United Nations in New York and then at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, it is essential that we move toward resolving the issues that still divide our nations. As scientists spell out the mounting evidence both of the climate change already ... Full Story »

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Derek Hawkins
3.3
 by Derek Hawkins - Sep. 22, 2009

The problem with politicians writing op-eds (or more appropriately, having op-eds ghost-written for them) is that they often come off sounding like speeches. No exception here. Brown talks about the money the world will save and the burst of innovation economies will experience by acting on climate change now, but he doesn't elaborate on any trends or identify any data that make his points much more than intuitively true. But his argument is well explained and reasonable, and will probably be effective in laying the groundwork ahead of the UN, G20 and Copenhagen meetings.

Some argue that, amid demanding economic conditions, our resolve to meet environmental commitments should weaken, that the costs are too high. In fact, the opposite is true; a strong agreement in Copenhagen is essential for global economic recovery. For that recovery depends on the investment that an agreement will unleash. The economies that embrace the green revolution earliest will reap the greatest rewards

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