Do you believe that the United States should commit to the Paris Agreement? What arguments most influenced your decision? Do you believe that we will experience significant global warming during this

B ut th e sad fact is th a t even i f all n atio n s m eet th e ir in te rn a tio n a l obligations as pledged, the p la n e t is o n a tra je c to ry w here th e increase in te m p e ra tu re over pre -in d u stria l levels co u ld to tal 3.5 degrees Celsius — a w h o p p in g 6 degrees Fahrenheit, an a m o u n t th a t is inconceivable a n d w h ic h w o u ld th re a te n civilization.

T he Paris A greem ent, m eanw hile, has a goal o f 2 °C , a n d an aspirational target o f 1.5°C. Those goals sta n d at th e lim it scientists have placed after w h ic h ca ta stro p h ic co n d itio n s will o b ta in for m u c h o f th e w orld.

W h e n it comes to gaps betw een th e aspirational a n d th e realistic,n o b o d y know s th e score b e tte r th a n M ichael P. V an d en b erg h o f V ander­ b ilt Law School, a fo rm e r p a rtn e r in th e L ath a m & W atkins law firm.

H e ’s been w ritin g a b o u t th e “behav­ ioral w edge” representing th e space o n a g ra p h betw een w h a t households do to reduce th e ir ca rb o n f o o tp rin t a n d w h a t th e y c o u ld d o w ith p ro p e r p u b lic policy spurs or private in itia ­ tives.

In a recent law review article co­ au th o re d w ith J o n a th a n M . Gilligan title d “B eyond G rid lo ck ,” th e w riters id en tify a sim ilar gap betw een w h a t is necessary to fight o ff th e w o rst effects o f clim ate change a n d w h a t c u rre n t g o v ernm ental policy w o u ld achieve given th e policy paralysis th a t has g rip p ed W a sh in g to n for th e last several years.

The a u th o rs call fo r a raft o f p ri­ vate initiatives w h ic h to g eth er w o u ld su p p ly as m u c h as a q u a r te r o f the emissions re d u ctio n s necessary to b u y the w o rld a decade in w hich it can deploy m u c h larger g o v ern m e n ­ tal initiatives n e e d e d to close the gap. T he a u th o rs th u s call th e use o f private governance aim ed a t clim ate change a “second best” m e th o d , be­ h in d m u c h m ore com prehensive governm ental actions such as a car­ b o n tax o r a c a p -an d -trad e system.

W h e n I emailed Vandenbergh after the Paris talks closed, he nam ed a “Paris Gap,” between the aspirational and theAs of th is October, th e Earth had w arm ed by about 1 . 7 d egrees Fahrenheit since 1 8 8 0 , w hen tr a c k in g began a t a global s c a le . The num ber may sound low, but as an average over th e surface of an en tire p lan et, it is a c tu a lly high.

. . . The h e a t a c c u m u la tin g in th e E arth because of human em issions is roughly equal to th e h e a t t h a t would be released by 4 0 0 , 0 0 0 Hiroshima ato m ic bombs exploding across th e p la n e t every day.

— N ew York Times, in a briefing on clim ate change likely, an d reiterated the need for private initiatives. “In m y view, the Paris Agree­ m e n t was a success because it fo u n d a com m on ground am ong roughly 195 countries, including the m ajor develop­ ing countries,” he said. “The agreement sends im portant signals in the m arket­ place th at a low-carbon economy is in the future, b u t it also sends an u n ­ intended m arket signal: It clarifies the extent o f the emissions reductions that are likely to occur for the next decade, and those are inadequate.” T he Paris A g reem ent “n o t only represents reason fo r h o p e th a t the in te rn a tio n a l process will yield genu- Sorry, George W ill, There Has Been N o Warming Hiatus The rate of global warm ing during th e last 1 5 years has been as fa s t as or fa s te r than t h a t seen during th e la tte r half of th e 2 0 th century. [Our] study refutes th e notion th a t th e re has been a slow­ down or “h iatus” in th e rate of global warm ing in recent years.The study is th e w o rk of a te a m of scien ­ t is ts from th e National O ceanic and A tm o ­ spheric A d m in is tra tio n ’s National C en ters for Environmental Inform a­ tion using th e la te s t global surface te m p e ra ­ tu re d a ta .

“Adding in th e last tw o years of globalsurface tem perature data and other improve­ ments in th e quality of th e observed record provide evidence th a t contradicts th e notion of a hiatus in recent global warming trends,” said Thomas R. Karl, director, NOAA’s National Cen­ ters for Environmental Information. “Our newanalysis suggests th a t th e apparent hiatus may have been largely th e re­ sult of limitations in past datasets, and th a t th e rate of warming over the first 1 5 years of this cen­ tury has, in fa c t, been as fast or faster than th a t seen over th e last half of th e 2 0 th century.” — N O A A w e b s ite 2 2 | T H E ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM Notice & Comment ine emissions reductions, bu t it also makes it clear that the international process will n o t produce the reduc­ tions over the next decade that are necessary to achieve the goals or as­ pirations articulated in that agree­ m ent,” he said. “It is tim e to ramp up efforts to identify gap-filling initia­ tives if we w ant to reduce the risks o f catastrophic climate change.” As an example, the authors wrote in the law review article, “inefficient energy use provides an opportunity for private initiatives to target ac­ tions that do not require altruistic motivations. Instead, these initiatives can target actions for which market failures or behavioral obstacles are blocking self-interested actions, and when self-interest aligns with energy efficiency or conservation, behavioral plasticity can be high even without government intervention.” As a rath­ er vivid example, one food firm saved 9,200 tons o f carbon just by changing the way it bought potatoes. Vanden- bergh and Gilligan identify a myriad o f success stories and possibilities for further carbon reductions that can fill the wedge-shaped emissions gap.

In the email, Vandenbergh added, “These initiatives include investor and lender pressure on corporations, N G O -corporate supply chain ef­ forts, internal corporate carbon goals and carbon prices, and N G O -driven initiatives to bypass utilities to re­ duce household energy use.” But the situation is getting desper­ ate, and the Paris cutbacks won’t be­ gin for five years, a delay that will be costly for the ecosystem. “It is time to increase the focus on how m uch private governance can contribute on its own, no t just as a means o f push­ ing governments,” Vandenbergh said in the email.

Solving the problem o f climate change will require an “all in” phi­ losophy. N o t only do we need strong governmental action, b u t we need an array o f private initiatives too. N ei­ ther alone is enough.

Notice & Co m m e n t is w ritte n by the e d ito r a n d represents his opinions.NEWS THAT’ Y o u ’r e F ir e d ! “A N ew Y o rk s ta te s e n a to r s a id . . . t h a t he w ill in tro d u c e le g is la tio n to s tr ip D o n a ld J. T ru m p S ta te P a rk o f its n a m e , d e c la rin g t h a t T ru m p ’s re c e n t rh e to ric d o e s n ’t lin e up w ith th e v a lu e s o f N ew York s t a t e , ” a c c o r d in g t o Buzzfeed in an o n lin e n e w s ite m p u b lis h e d in m id D e c e m b e r.

The p o litic ia n is D a n ie l S q u a d ro n , w h o s e d is t r ic t e n c o m p a s s e s p a rts o f B ro o k ly n a n d lo w e r M a n h a tta n . The o u ts p o k e n p ro te c to r o f p u b lic m o r ­ a ls w e n t on to say t h a t “ b ig o try has no p la c e in p re s id e n tia l p o litic s a n d c e r ta in ly s h o u ld n ’t be h o n o re d w ith a s ta te p a r k n a m in g .” Buzzfeed n o te d t h a t “ t h e p a r k , a n u n d e v e lo p e d s tr e t c h o f 4 3 6 a c re s o f la n d in P u tn a m a n d W e s t­ c h e s te r C o u n tie s , w a s d o n a te d by T ru m p to N ew Y o rk s t a t e in 2 0 0 6 a f t e r p la n s to b u ild a g o l f c o u r s e f e l l th r o u g h b e c a u s e o f ‘s t r i c t e n v i­ r o n m e n t a l r e s t r i c t i o n s a n d p e r m i t ­ t i n g r e q u i r e m e n t s , ’ a c c o r d in g to a New York Times r e p o r t. T ru m p u l t i m a t e l y g o t a t a x c r e d it f o r th e d o n a t i o n . ” The p a r k w a s clo s e d in 2 0 1 0 and The D o n a ld a s k e d fo r th e r e tu rn o f th e la n d , t h r e a t e n in g a la w s u it.

M o r e P o t N e w s : “ R e c re a tio n a l m a r iju a n a is n o w le g a l in fo u r s ta te s a n d th e D is tr ic t o f C o lu m b ia , a nd w h ile s o m e fe a re d a d d ic tio n o r th e s m e ll, a n e w c o n s e q u e n c e is c o m ­ in g t o lig h t: It uses to o m u c h p o w e r," a c c o rd in g to Energywire, p a r t o f th e E& E News s e rvice .

The w e e d f i r s t c a m e u n d e r e n ­ v ir o n m e n ta l s c ru tin y in C a lifo rn ia , a s re p o rte d la s t y e a r in News That’s Reused. In th e G olde n S ta te , g ro w in g p o t is a p rim e a g r ic u ltu r a l e n te rp ris e b u t w ith u n r e g u la te d im p a c t s be­ c a u s e o f its q u a s i-le g a l n a tu re . Pot is le g a l f o r m e d ic a l re a s o n s b u t n o t fo r p u b lic c o n s u m p tio n , a s in a h a n d fu l o f s ta te s .

In O reg on , u t i li t y c o m p a n ie s haveS REUSED s te p p e d in to th e b re e c h . M an y a re “ e n c o u r a g in g p e o p le to c a ll in be­ fo r e th e y s t a r t a g ro w -o p to have it c h e c k e d o u t. Tom G a u n tt, P a c ific P o w e r’s s p o k e s m a n , s a id i t ’s to a vo id o v e r lo a d in g lo c a l s y s te m s a n d c a u s in g p o w e r o u ta g e s .” A c c o rd in g to a lo c a l g ro w e r, Jes­ se Pe te rs, e le c tr ic a l tr a n s fo r m e r s w e re g e tt in g “ c o o k e d ” — t h e ir te r m — by o ver use. ‘“ W e w a n t to g e t th e rig h t p e r m its , use c o n tr a c to r s and pay o u r ta x e s ,' he s a id . ‘W e a re th e o n ly in d u s try a s k in g f o r m o re re g u ­ la t io n . ’ ” C i t i n g C IT E S ? “A s t u f f e d to y t i g e r tie d to th e to p o f a v e h ic le g e n e r a te d a s t i r a n d a 9 1 1 c a ll," a c c o r d in g to The Columbian. The n e w s p a p e r q u o te d C o n n o r Z u v ic h o f V a n co u ve r, th e d r iv e r o f th e SUV in q u e s to n . S h o w in g t h a t N o r th w e s t c itiz e n s a re c o m m it t e d e n v ir o n m e n tlis ts , s o m e o n e c a lle d in w h a t lo o k e d lik e a n e n d a n g e re d s p e c ie s v io la tio n . K e e p in g su c h a n im a ls is ille g a l in W a s h in g to n s ta te .

B lu e w a y B lu e s : “A m id a p u b lic b a c k la s h , s e v e ra l c o n s e rv a ­ t io n g ro u p s a n d s ta te a g e n c ie s no lo n g e r w a n t th e W h ite R iver to be p a r t o f a n e w fe d e ra l p ro g ra m t h a t re c o g n iz e s c o n s e rv a tio n a n d re c re ­ a tio n e f f o r t s a lo n g w a te r w a y s ,” as re p o rte d in th e New York Times.

A p p a re n tly , th e ro u te w a s p a r t o f a N a tio n a l B lu e w a y d e s ig n a tio n fo r th e river, w h ic h f o r its 7 0 0 - m ile le n g th ru n s th ro u g h M is s o u ri a n d A rk a n s a s .

“ G ro u p s on b o th s id e s o f th e is­ su e a g re e t h a t i t ’s th e r ig h t t h i n g to d o ,” th e Times re p o rts . “ O p p o n e n ts say th e d e s ig n a tio n , g ive n in Ja n u ­ a ry [2 0 1 5 ] , c o u ld le a d to n e w re g u ­ la tio n s o r la n d se iz u re s , w h ile o n e ­ t i m e b a c k e rs sa y th e c o n tro v e rs y c o u ld m a k e la n d o w n e rs r e s is ta n t to v o lu n t a r ily c o o p e r a tin g w ith c o n s e r­ v a tio n e f f o r t s . ” MARCH/APRIL 201 6|2 3 Copyright ofEnvironmental Forumisthe property ofEnvironmental LawInstitute andits content maynotbecopied oremailed tomultiple sitesorposted toalistserv without the copyright holder'sexpresswrittenpermission. However,usersmayprint, download, oremail articles forindividual use.