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Top 10 Green Ideas

By Bryan Walsh

(This article is from Time.com)

#1. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

This network of thousands of international scientists has been around since the late 1980s, but it was in 2007 that the IPCC — charged with forging a scientific consensus on climate change — really made its mark. In its fourth assessment report on climate change, which comprised a series of reports released throughout the year, the IPCC made the final case that global warming is real, and that humans are the main cause. The IPCC also detailed the potential consequences of unchecked warming, and produced a road map for the kind of economic and technological changes needed to avoid the worst-case scenarios. Climate change is a momentous challenge, but the IPCC — which shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore this year — has shown us the way.

#10. Geo-engineering

It used to be considered the stuff of science fiction, but a growing number of experts are voicing qualified support for a radical solution to climate change. It’s called geo-engineering, and it involves purposefully attempting to cool the climate through planetary-scale actions like blocking sunlight by stationing mirrors in space. Other fixes include seeding the seas with iron to help plankton absorb more greenhouse gases, and injecting sulfur into the upper atmosphere to create sunlight-deflecting clouds. These are clearly last resorts, and scientists have no idea whether the cure could be worse than the disease, but the very fact that experts now support researching into geo-engineering shows just how desperate the climate crisis has become.

#2. The U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP)

The total lack of federal action on climate change is disheartening, but it has left the door open for initiatives from other sectors. One of the best is the U.S. Climate Action Partnership. Launched in January, USCAP brought together corporate heavyweights like General Motors and General Electric with environmental groups like the Nature Conservancy. Together, they’re out to lobby the government to do something unusual: increase regulations. USCAP called for mandatory cuts of 60% to 80% in carbon emissions by 2050, and a uniform nationwide market for carbon. When big business is this far ahead of government, it’s clearly time for a change.

( For the rest of the top ten, Read More)