HOPE RISES IN CLIMATE FIGHT

Taking on the Critics of the COP21 Agreement

December 21, 2015 (The TakeAway via WNYC/PRI radio)

"When he first ran for president in 2007 and 2008, then-Senator Obama promised action on climate change…A number of Obama cheerleaders were disappointed with the president's environmental record in his first term, particularly after what many described as a disastrous deal in Copenhagen, in 2009…But the deal struck earlier this month in Paris meets at least some of the ambition Obama seemed to promise before he took office…

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“Now comes the hard part: Implementing it…The Paris climate change agreement is based on voluntary pledges by many different countries to cut carbon emissions. Critics may say this makes the agreement unenforceable, but Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, says that doesn't mean it is doomed to fail…Sachs believes the Paris agreement is a ‘diplomatic triumph’…[and] nations around the world can meet these voluntary pledges…[if they and] U.S. politicians can find the political will to stick to the agreement…” click here for more

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