Posted on November 7, 2008 12:00 AM by Fred Dodsworth

It’s so critical that we the people make sure the House and the Senate work with rather than against the new Obama Administration.
We don’t have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, nor do we have a Republican-style, lock-step consensus in the House. The Repugnicans used the filibuster more in the last two years than any other time in American history. They’ll use the filibuster even more in the next two years.

Therefore leadership must come from the people, clearly stated to our President and to our Representatives in Congress regarding the most important issues that need to be addressed. America's energy policies are one of the most important issues, effecting our relationships with other nations, our environment and our national economy.

Speak out and let your voice in this matter be heard. Rest assured, those who will profit most will be speaking/screaming loudly.

Posted on November 7, 2008 12:00 AM by Pavak

Dr. Pachauri, a large first step in the development of a national energy grid in the US designed specifically to more efficiently manage existing power resources and facilitate the decentralized generation often characterized by renewable energy sources has already been taken by the NSF. The Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) center is being spearheaded by your alma mater, NC State University, and is currently backed by over $28.5 million in initial funding. We can hope that the Obama administration will continue to aggressively invest in such initiatives and, perhaps most importantly, the commercialization of their results.

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by Judy cross

does Dr. P have an answer to this newspaper article?

Last month I witnessed something shocking. Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was giving a talk at the University of NSW. The talk was accompanied by a slide presentation, and the most important graph showed average global temperatures. For the past decade it represented temperatures climbing sharply.

As this was shown on the screen, Pachauri told his large audience: "We're at a stage where warming is taking place at a much faster rate [than before]".

Now, this is completely wrong. For most of the past seven years, those temperatures have actually been on a plateau. For the past year, there's been a sharp cooling. These are facts, not opinion: the major sources of these figures, such as the Hadley Centre in Britain, agree on what has happened, and you can check for yourself by going to their websites. Sure, interpretations of the significance of this halt in global warming vary greatly, but the facts are clear."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/michael-duffy/truly-inconvenient-truths-about-climate-change-being-ignored/2008/11/07/1225561134617.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by Derek Tipp

You must realise that the majority of people do not agree that CO2 is driving our climate. If Obama does implement policies which attempt to rapidly de-carbonise the economy, this will lead to increase in the cost of everything that moves or requires energy, which is almost everything! He will find this very difficult on top of the recent economic downturn. Both in Canada and in New Zealand the voters have rejected parties that have put forward such policies.

In a cooling world such policies will become increasingly rejected and despised.

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by david

I hate to tell you, but climate change was not a significant issue in the recent election. Everything else was outweighed by economic issues.

Americans are skeptics by nature, and remain unconvinced as a body politic that climate change is a major crisis. Certainly the American policy will change, but I doubt that you will find major limits on emissions if they do not apply to China and other emerging economies as well.

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by frank mosher

i am, like most people, interested more in observed satellite temps, than theoretical modeled temps. With the observed drop in temps, and increase in polar ice, and financial meltdown, it seems likely any huge attempt at imposing draconian measures will be met with large scale resistance by the public. At this point in time, demonizing carbon dioxide, seems rather absurd.

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by George Patch

I have not seen any evidence that many Americans were voting on the climate change issue, and I also can't say the American people as a whole have a major difference with the current policies.

Just what is the policy you'd like to see announced? I say this with the knowledge that last six years have shown no warming, and the last year or more indicates a pronounced cooling trend is underway.

I think common ground can be found with the current economic crisis. A crisis with roots deep in risky lending policies, but triggered by a rapid rise in energy prices over the last few years.

Yet I'm fairly certain you are advocating policies that will constrain the supply of energy and further drive up prices. Many proposed initiatives such as carbon trading and sequestration will take limited resources away from renewables and nuclear. These initiatives and policies will constrain supply, force price increases and ultimately lead to further economic turmoil, which will reduce the resources available to new developments.

With the policies you advocate, you can't get to your destination. You need to find the middle ground, and that is in energy independence. Policies that increase the domestic supply, increase the use of renewables and nuclear, increase conservation, while lowering costs and boosting economy as a whole.

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by El Sabio

Dear sir, why can you not tell the truth? See the following link.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/11/07/truly-inconvenient-truths-about-climate-change-being-ignored-ipccs-pachauri-says-warming-is-taking-place-at-a-much-faster-rate/#more-4048

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by Richard Treadgold

Dr Pachauri,

In January you were quoted in The Guardian as saying you would "look into the apparent temperature plateau so far this century."

In August the World Meteorological Organisation reported that the first half of 2008 was the coolest for at least five years and the whole year will almost certainly be cooler than recent years.

Yet a month ago in Sydney, at the University of NSW, you told your audience: "We’re at a stage where warming is taking place at a much faster rate [than before]."

Your assertion seems to have been unfastened from the facts. For if the year is cooler, it cannot also be warming. And if you acknowledged the temperature plateau in January, where had it gone by October?

The global temperatures recorded off the satellites by the University of Alabama in Huntsville, by Remote Sensing Systems, by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at NASA and by others clearly show, since 2001, a plateau and a recent sharp decline.

Given such facts, you are in error to assert the atmosphere is warming. You should desist.

Cheers,
Richard Treadgold,
Convenor,
Climate Conversation Group.

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by A. Fucaloro

If J. McCain had won, would you have written that "[t]here is every reason to believe that President McCain will actually do so"?

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by Jody

I see that "Wattsup with that" gave this webpage, indirectly encouraging its global warming skeptics to post here to question whether these is any man made global warming at all. But, just ignore them. They are an interest group.

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by Llyn Crawford

As a postgraduate researcher I am becoming very concerned that current statistics are not agreeing with IPCC projections on Climate Change. As the modelling is based on human computer input, the results mirroring the aims of the programmer, I fail to see how these instigated projections can cancel out what is being recorded from actual statistics and on-the-spot measurements. I am one of those people who is beginning to think that there are a lot of people out there pushing their own barrow and ignoring any results that indicate they may be totally wrong and that cyclical climate change is normal and not man made.

The more I read and study the more I think we are being totally misled.

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by Tom in Florida

Dr Pachauri,
A simple question. What is the correct temperature for the Earth? I personally would like it a little warmer. It is the reason I moved to Florida in the first place. I like warm. I do not like cool. I prefer the sea temperature above 82 degrees F. How can the scientific community resolve the many differences in personal tastes for what the ideal temperature should be?

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by Matt

Dr-
I am completely unclear as to what exactly you want President Obama to do?

The FACTS (from the Hadley center and others) are showing that the earth is COOLING. This inspite of the increase in atmospheric CO2 that is allegedly caused by man. According to you (and others) should't temperatures be INCREASING?

Posted on November 8, 2008 12:00 AM by Steven McGinn

"the election of Mr Obama is a development that should generate optimism all-round"

There's just one problem there, Doc. Obama isn't generating optimism all around. His policies promised during his campaign rhetoric will end American capitalism as it is known, and as much as I'm sure you think that is great, not everyone is optimistic, including multiple sectors across the board such as banks, industries, manufacturers.

So please clarify how Obama's policies to mitigate climate change will help the world for the better. In case you've been under a rock, the world economy is tanking and the last thing this world needs is detrimental policy enacted at a pseudo-science. Climate change (or is it global warming) is being exposed as the hoax that it truly is.

Americans elected Barack Hussein Obama because we felt he was the better candidate.

Mr. Obama has some wonderful lessons to learn in his first few days as a president if he is to save American jobs but also promises to eradicate our current energy policy.

http://www.american.com/archive/2008/november-11-08/why-obama2019s-2018green-jobs2019-plan-won2019t-work

Respecfully yours,

Steven McGinn
energy reporter

Posted on November 9, 2008 12:00 AM by Richard Treadgold

Dr Pachauri,

In January you were quoted in The Guardian as saying you would "look into the apparent temperature plateau so far this century."

In August the World Meteorological Organisation reported that the first half of 2008 was the coolest for at least five years and the whole year will almost certainly be cooler than recent years.

Yet a month ago in Sydney, at the University of NSW, you told your audience: "We're at a stage where warming is taking place at a much faster rate [than before]."

Your assertion seems to have been unfastened from the facts. For if the year is cooler, it cannot also be warming. And if you acknowledged the temperature plateau in January, where had it gone by October?

The global temperatures recorded off the satellites by the University of Alabama in Huntsville, by Remote Sensing Systems, by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at NASA and by others clearly show, since 2001, a plateau and a recent sharp decline.

Given such facts, you are in error to assert the atmosphere is warming. You should desist.

Cheers,
Richard Treadgold,
Convenor,
Climate Conversation Group.

Posted on November 10, 2008 12:00 AM by Michael Martin

"At the University of NSW, Rajendra Pachauri told his large audience: 'We’re at a stage where warming is taking place at a much faster rate [than before]'."

Curious as to why you feel that way, when temperature records (HadCrut, RSS, etc.) seem to indicate otherwise.

Thank you

Posted on November 20, 2008 1:00 AM by akhilesh

Yes Dr Pachauri, its historical victory for whole of the world. It will revolutionize the thought processes and work as positive catalysis for development.
Hope Obama will keep his promoses for making wildlife sustainable.

Posted on November 30, 2008 10:35 PM by S.A.Alagarsamy

Respected sir
I felt great joy when your name was annonced to Climate Prize..
Your wonderful dedicated work in the field of alternative energy to save the planet is excellent.I am 68 years a retd officer of Finance ministry in 90s..

I am a strong supporterof Barak Obama.
i have heard all his speeches thro you tube
I am really happy to see a Person after Dr Algore to evince keen interest in Climate control studies and Research.

I admire your work and Direction
God Bless You
S.A.Alagarsamy
Chennai
Tamilnadu.

Posted on December 4, 2008 8:45 PM by Frank Mancuso

Scary isn't it? The opinion of one US President can modify world behavior, indeed the future of life on the planet. Do we ever let real science make planatary judgements or is our destiny to let political opinion with all its constituents decide the fate of life on this planet?

Posted on December 6, 2008 10:18 AM by Ecotretas

What Mr. Obama really can do now is question if data Mr. Hansen has been giving us is really correct. And see that sea levels have been going down. And temperatures also going down, while CO2 keeps going up. And understand the photosynthesis process. In the meantime he can read what internal auditors have found at WMO.
I believe Mr. Obama has the opportunity to change. Change all these people that have been defraunding us. Get back to basics!
Ecotretas

Posted on December 10, 2008 11:10 PM by Nityanand

We are certainly more optimistic about USA leading the Climate Security of the Planet, from the front and reviving the Carbon Markets, created post Kyoto Protocol which are significantly threatened and weakened due to lack of sufficient demand.

As is seen from one of the leading studies by US Scientists, IPCC findings are far too conservative on Arctic Ice Melting. Click http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2007/seaice.shtml . US action we hope would reflect the urgency and magnitude of response needed to provide Climate Security to the Planet. We hope that US actions would bring safety nets for ours' and coming generation as well.

Posted on December 21, 2008 12:05 PM by Carter Lavin

One thing Obama will do is stop the War on Science that seems to have taken root in my country. It's a good thing too as judging by these comments a lot of people don't have a complete picture of the threat and reality of climate change. Hopefully they'll come around soon and decide to face the problem rather than distort facts and try to ignore them.