Rapid and Immediate Reduction of Emissions to Combat Effects of Global Warming

Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), is calling for urgent change and a rapid, immediate reduction of emissions to combat the effects of global warming. Knobloch's comments appear in the latest edition of Conversations - an online discussion focused on the transforming impact of science. Conversations is a project of the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF). (http://www.crdf.org/conversations)

In his remarks, Knobloch – who has experience with a range of environmental and arms control issues, including natural resource and clean energy economics, renewable energy and corporate responsibility – emphasizes the urgent need for emissions reduction in order to stabilize our climate.

“What we haven’t quite done in the past and what is called for now is a highly integrated social and technological revolution on a time scale that we’ve never seen before,” Knobloch says. “We have five, maybe ten years to get the policies in place that will achieve these deep reductions that I’m talking about. It took 100 years to abolish slavery in this country once early campaigns started. It took 70 years for women to gain the right to vote. We don’t have that luxury of time.”

Knobloch states that science will play an integral role in determining which issues should be targeted to most efficiently combat climate change.

“Science will also help us monitor how we’re doing to achieve that target and on what kind of pace we’ll need to keep,” says Knobloch. “Science and technology will also be very key to achieving those reductions without hurting the economy.”

Conversations is an online exploration of the top issues of our time through the lens of science. Conversations features diverse, interdisciplinary panels including authors, policymakers, experts, journalists and those who work on the front lines of major challenges. The latest edition focuses on global warming and features, along with Knobloch, Maria Blair of the Rockefeller Foundation and Alan Hamlet of the University of Washington.

Knobloch’s commentary can be read or downloaded as a podcast at http://www.crdf.org/conversations.