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Oil pumps in California. (Photo: CGP Grey/flickr/cc)
'Pretty Obvious,' says US Climate Envoy, We'll Have to Leave Fossil Fuels 'In the Ground'
A global deal on climate change, admits top official, will require countries and industry to forgo developing reserves of oil, coal, and gas
Nov 25, 2014
Fighting climate change on a global scale will "obviously" require that fossil fuels stay in the ground, State Department climate change envoy Todd Stern said in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
According to the Guardian, Stern told a forum at the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, that for the world to combat global warming necessitates "a solution that leaves a lot of fossil fuel assets in the ground. We are not going to get rid of fossil fuel overnight but we are not going to solve climate change on the basis of all the fossil fuels that are in the ground are going to have to come out. That's pretty obvious."
The newspaper described Stern's statement as "the clearest sign to date the administration sees no long-range future for fossil fuel." It comes a week ahead of United Nations climate negotiations in Lima, Peru, and in the wake of this month's announcement of a non-binding agreement between the U.S. and China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next 15 years.
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Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Fighting climate change on a global scale will "obviously" require that fossil fuels stay in the ground, State Department climate change envoy Todd Stern said in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
According to the Guardian, Stern told a forum at the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, that for the world to combat global warming necessitates "a solution that leaves a lot of fossil fuel assets in the ground. We are not going to get rid of fossil fuel overnight but we are not going to solve climate change on the basis of all the fossil fuels that are in the ground are going to have to come out. That's pretty obvious."
The newspaper described Stern's statement as "the clearest sign to date the administration sees no long-range future for fossil fuel." It comes a week ahead of United Nations climate negotiations in Lima, Peru, and in the wake of this month's announcement of a non-binding agreement between the U.S. and China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next 15 years.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Fighting climate change on a global scale will "obviously" require that fossil fuels stay in the ground, State Department climate change envoy Todd Stern said in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
According to the Guardian, Stern told a forum at the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, that for the world to combat global warming necessitates "a solution that leaves a lot of fossil fuel assets in the ground. We are not going to get rid of fossil fuel overnight but we are not going to solve climate change on the basis of all the fossil fuels that are in the ground are going to have to come out. That's pretty obvious."
The newspaper described Stern's statement as "the clearest sign to date the administration sees no long-range future for fossil fuel." It comes a week ahead of United Nations climate negotiations in Lima, Peru, and in the wake of this month's announcement of a non-binding agreement between the U.S. and China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next 15 years.
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