Earth Equity News

Is the Financial Crisis More Dire than the Climate Crisis? Posted by Joseph Romm, Gristmill, September 22, 2008. “Not even close. ‘If there's no action before 2012, that's too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.’ So warned IPCC head Rajendra Pachauri last fall... And remember, Pachauri was handpicked by the Bush administration to replace the ‘alarmist’ Bob Watson... It is insane to glom together a trillion-dollar taxpayer-funded legislative response to this crisis in a few days while utterly ignoring the infinitely graver climate crisis. At the very least, we should combine whatever financial bailout is deemed necessary with the $100 billion ‘Green Recovery’ effort proposed by the Center for American Progress... That would that create 2 million new jobs nationwide in two years and start ‘the reconstruction of local communities and public infrastructure all across America, setting us on a course for a long-term transition to a low-carbon economy.’ [It] would also help ensure that whatever dubious financial instruments the taxpayers are stuck with in the Bush Bailout, they have more value because the U.S. economy and its infrastructure -- and thus housing values -- would be fast-tracked to sustainable health.”