Michael Oppenheimer Explains Importance of US/China Climate Deal

Michael Oppenheimer, a lead author of the IPCC AR4, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University, and perhaps the person with the longest professional title and list of credentials in the universe, appeared on PBS's NewsHour recently to discuss America's latest climate agreement with China.

"This is huge, as far as I'm concerned...If you get China and the US in the room, you have about 45% of global greenhouse, global warming emissions. If you add in the EU, which is already on the downward, uh, direction in terms of emissions, you've got about 60% of emissions. Think about the leadership factor involved in that. Other countries will have a harder time avoiding dealing with climate change with the three 800 lbs. gorillas together."

For years we've been hearing the ridiculous excuse from climate change deniers that it doesn't matter what the US does, when China represents the real problem, and/or isn't interested in curtailing emissions. Declarations of this kind never really had much truth to them, but now, with China promising to meet more ambitious renewables and GHG reduction goals, they're especially specious. So, of course, deniers respond to being robbed of their favorite worthless, screwball excuse by gearing up to thwart the deal. Meanwhile, Watts and Goddard are still living in the 1950's, and continuing their sad and demented neo-McCarthyist ways. I mean, these people are just despicable infants.