http://bit.ly/1mxrcnu

This link gives a good summary about what did and did not happen at the Copenhagen Accord of 2009.  The use of a climate resilience investment tax credit (CRITC) to provide U.S. funding for its proportional share of the $100 billion annual requirement beginning in 2020 for developing nations seems promising.

There has been a lot of discussion about what are the main directions to take in reducing carbon emissions.  I am now reading a book by Richard Muller called Energy for Presidents, which seems to take the view that reducing the emissions of developing countries, including China, India and Brazil may be more effective than focusing efforts on developed countries like the U.S. and Europe.

Personally, I am still studying the situation and do not have any real conclusions at this point.  I do know that the position in Europe and the U.S. seems to focus on natural gas production in the short and intermediate term to lessen dependence on foreign oil.

The debate between whether or not renewable energy can be sufficient to provide a transition from fossil fuels is heated and still unclear to me.  The introduction of nuclear energy into the mix also somewhat clouds the issues but is nevertheless part of the equation.

It is interesting that many of the Middle East oil producing nations seems to have a plan of selling their fossil fuel assets and providing internal energy needs through the use of renewable energy.  This direction, in my opinion, speaks volumes for the viability of renewable energy’s potential.

The more one looks at the macro issues the more it becomes apparent to me that there has to be a global consensus on how to proceed because the situation is not going away and is deepening due to the confluence of raising population, decreased natural resources and present and future damage to our natural environment through our efforts to increase energy production through the use of fossil fuels.

I will leave you with another link: this is the UN site about climate change.  The UN is a major driver for climate change initiatives, as is the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation and an increasing number of public and private initiatives.  The need for environmental financing mechanisms is increasing rapidly due to the capital required to implement effective retrofit and what we call PEP measures (Protection, Enhancement and Preservation methods).

Your comments are greatly appreciated.