Transcript MHC-200-Poster-Final - Macaulay Honors College

Mitigating CO2 Emissions
Charlie Houlton-Vinyl, Cristopher Garcia, and Razan Asombrato
Hunter College, MHC 200, Professor Alexandratos
Background
-Scientists all agree that climate change
is caused by the actions of humans.
-Ever since the industrial revolution
there has been a spike in carbon
emissions and temperature
-Carbon dioxide and other Green House
Gasses (GHGs) heat the atmosphere
as a result of greenhouse effect.
-Carbon dioxide represents over 76% of
global green house gasses
-Naturally, carbon dioxide is at
equilibrium at 280 parts per million
(ppm)
-CO2 levels have now reached over 400
ppm
When Did We Realize Carbon
Was a Problem?
-The Clean Air Act of 1970 gave the federal
government was given an active role in
remediating air pollution.
-Initially, carbon dioxide was not prioritized
as a hazardous air pollutant because it
occurred naturally and did not pose a
direct danger to human health in the way
that SO2, NOx, or particulate matter did.
-The Clean Air Act of 1990 authorized a
comprehensive study on the impact of
fossil fuel combustion on atmospheric
concentrations of CO2 and their economic,
physical, and climatic effects.
-The EPA was instructed to begin
monitoring and regulating carbon dioxide
emissions.
Carbon Tax
-The rise in carbon levels have lead to
the saturation of carbon in the oceans
causing acidification.
-Deforestation, especially in the Amazon
Rain Forest has exacerbated the
carbon crisis because the Amazon is
the world’s largest carbon sink.
-The global consensus, as verified by
the IPCC, is that the threshold for the
increase in temperature should be 2
degrees. However, forecasts indicate
that we are heading towards a 5 degree
rise.
-It is necessary that we learn from these
past endeavors to mitigate carbon
emissions, in order to take the next
crucial steps in preserving our world.
-Clean Air Act of 1990 encouraged
market based solutions.
-Carbon tax is the process in which
companies are taxes by how much
carbon they emit.
-Companies that emit large amounts of
carbon will have to charge more for
their products.
-Companies that emit less carbon will
be able to out-compete carbon emitting
companies because their products will
be less expensive to the consumer.
-Unpopular with some because it seems
like the government overstepping the
limits of its power and putting addition
burden on taxpayers.
Successful Campaigns
British Columbia
Australia
Sweden
Cap & Trade
-Cap & Trade is the free market alternate to
a Carbon Tax.
-In a Cap & Trade system there is the central
authority, which usually is the government,
that designates the total amount of carbon
that is going to be allowed to be emitted for
the year
-Then the government either designates or
auctions off credits to different companies.
- Credits usually are worth one metric ton of
carbon.
-Every year cap is decreased.
-Companies that make changes to emit less
Carbon have to spend less money on
credits and therefore can be more
competitive than companies that use a lot of
carbon and have to buy a lot of credits.
-Money raised by government can be spent
to fund green initiatives.
-It is necessary that there are the right
amount of credits in the marketplace
because too few or too many can throw of
the pricing of the credits and potentially
jeopardize the entire system.
International Efforts
-In 1988, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
was created. It is meant to provide an official scientific view
on the effects, both environmental and socio-economical, of
climate change. No research is conducted by the IPCC, but
the IPCC reviews and verifies scientific data sent in from
researchers and observers of climate change worldwide.
-During the 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, which
had a theme of environment and sustainable development,
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change was adopted, an international treaty that aims for
the “stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the
atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic interference with the climate system”.
-Right now, the ongoing Paris COP21 is addressing the end
of Kyoto Protocol, a binding contract under UNFCCC, and
global greenhouse gas emissions beyond the Protocol’s
final year of effect, 2020. One flaw of the Kyoto Protocol
was that it did not set binding target emissions to
developing countries such as China, the largest carbon
emitter. Notably, the US has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol
and is the 2nd largest carbon emitter.
-Individually, people worldwide have been proactive at
reducing their carbon footprint and inducing their
governments to take the threat of global warming seriously.
-The world’s first climate liability suit, held the Netherlands,
resulted in a court order to cut emissions by 25% by 2020.
Some who are attending COP21 have travelled by bike
from as far as Vietnam, or by foot from the Netherlands,
walking up to 26 km/day!
Conclusion
Carbon emission is a serious problem to
which we do not have much time to solve.
There have been various ways that states,
regions, and countries have attempted to
mitigate carbon, and we are just getting
started. Actions at even the most
microscopic level are critical, because
that’s how global warming takes effect.
Global cooperation is essential in keeping
our world habitable for us, and for future
generations. Hopefully this can be
achieved by 198 countries in this year’s
ongoing Paris COP21.
Unsuccessful Campaigns
-Chicago Carbon Exchange
- Western Climate Initiatives
Successful Campaigns
-Acid Rain Program
-Nitrogen Oxides Program
-Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
-California
References
“Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data.” Global
Emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 29
Nov. 2015
“How Cap and Trade Works.” Environmental Defence
Fund, EDF. Web, 29 Nov. 2015.
“Clean power Plan for Existing Power Plants.” EPA.gov.
Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.