Sunday, September 27, 2009

Greenhouse Laws are Overdue

By Daniel Stouffer

Since the dawn of the industrial age, we have come a long way and have made significant technological moves forward in what is essentially a short period of time. Once we had discovered that the fossil fuels that we find all around us could be converted to energy and thus make our way of life that much better, we did not look back. However, 300 years later we can now see how much damage the conspicuous consumption of these fuels has caused and this has lead to the call for greenhouse laws to try and reverse the damage to our environment and to stave off the potential for significant climate change.

The byproduct of using fossil fuels for energy production (and subsequent use and consumption) was a significant release of damaging gases to the environment. Large volumes of these gases caused a warming effect in the atmosphere and over time a considerable imbalance in the natural scheme of things. As a society, we must reverse this trend and this has led to the introduction of greenhouse laws to control the dangerous greenhouse gases.

Carbon dioxide equivalent gases are the main target of greenhouse laws as these products are very dangerous. A threat exists to all forms of life on the planet, as patterns change and weather events intensify. Those who are deemed to be the largest culprits, the biggest emitters of gases will be in the crosshairs of this new legislation and they will be forced to seek alternative methods of energy production.

The United Kingdom is one of the first countries to put in place mandatory laws, requiring the largest companies to cut back as part of legislation that will come into effect in 2010 and 2011. From that time on, the British government has set a goal of reducing carbon emissions by as much as 80% by the time we get to the year 2050.

A cunning "cap and trade" scheme will effectively force large emitters of carbon gases to reduce their figures, as a consequence of a value being placed on carbon itself. The scheme is part of the greenhouse laws being introduced in Britain and once the administration sets an overall limit on the total amount of gases that are permissible, market-driven forces will take care of the rest.

Unfortunately, goodwill alone is not enough to prompt major emitters of carbon to alter their ways of doing business. The British Carbon Reduction Commitment is one of the first steps in a government intervention. By structuring an approach this way, it is felt that the new greenhouse laws will have a great effect on the overall problem facing the climate.

Environmentalists and scientists have long said that we need to take a serious look at the problem of climate change, although it has only been in recent times that governments have come on board. In the 90s, the Kyoto Protocol was the first significant step in the right direction but many countries did not actively follow up on their initial enthusiasm. To make any real changes work, mandatory greenhouse laws will undoubtedly be very likely.

United States is seen as being behind its expected position and a variety of excuses have been rolled out by the US administration over time. There is some debate as to whether the country will take greenhouse laws being debated in Congress seriously and whether they will ever see the light of day.

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