April 22, 2013 – Climate
change is forcing new international partnerships. It’s funny, when we’ve run out of choices and
find that the only option left is getting along, we not only do so - we find it
works to everybody’s benefit. While the
first example might seem to be simply a business arrangement, I would argue
there’s far more than money to be gained.
Chances are you’ve heard at
least mutterings about the possibility of solar arrays being established in
North Africa so that the resulting electricity can be sold, in part, to Europe. In fact, European investors have gotten well
past the muttering stage. So have the
North African countries interested in bringing their populations into the 21st
century. Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco,
and Tunisia enjoy endless sunshine. It could ultimately reward them and their
European backers with endless electricity.
Morocco and Tunisia are in the process of building plants, and Morocco
operates an electrical connection to Spain.
The technology needed in
order to collect, and then transport the potential gigawatts of power now
exists. All of this is very good news,
and sounds like a win-win. As with so
many things in life, there is, however, an interesting “catch.” To wit: not all of these North African
countries are the best of friends. Enmity
notwithstanding, they will need to be electrically connected to each in order
to realize optimal gains from the newest technology. Whether the various warring parties can set
historical hurts aside in order to enjoy this hitherto unutilized benefaction
will depend upon a great many things.
Our view? They’d be stupid not
to. Their view? That remains to be seen.
Fifty years ago, the Glen
Canyon Dam on the Colorado River went into operation. Seven hundred miles to the south, in Cucapa’
el Mayor, Mexico, the river began running dry.
Once a tropical paradise of estuaries, river channels, fish, birds and
other wildlife, it has become capable of supporting only salt cedar, a weed
tree. Thanks, however, to an amendment to
a seventy-year-old treaty between the United States and Mexico, called Minute
319, the riparian habitat once found in Cucapa’ could well be on its way to
restoration. That’s because Minute 319
will free up large one-time releases of water that will mimic the floods once a
regular part of this riverine environment.
These powerful flows of water will scour away the sediment and salt that
has accumulated over the decades, enabling native vegetation to once again gain
a foothold.
So where does this water come
from? The American and Mexican conservation
groups that united to restore the former wetland will buy unused water rights
back from Mexican farmers, for about 40% of the total. Part of the balance will come from water
districts in the United States, in return for some of Mexico’s water. Conservation improvements, such as the lining
of canals in order to prevent water seepage, will provide the rest. All this will be administered by the
International Boundary and Water Commission, operated jointly by the U.S. and
Mexico. Perhaps dolphins will one day
swim again in the lower Colorado River!
You may have heard that last week, China and the
United States announced the formation of a “Climate Change Working Group.” The announcement said, in part: “Both sides
recognize that, given the latest scientific understanding of accelerating climate
change and the urgent need to intensify global efforts to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, forceful, nationally appropriate action by the
United States and China – including large-scale cooperative action – is more
critical than ever. Such action is
crucial both to contain climate change and to set the kind of powerful example
that can inspire the world.” The fact
that the rest of the world was long ago inspired enough to sign the Kyoto
Protocol is overlooked.
Better late than never? We can only hope so.
With thanks to Climateprogress, thehill.com, Climate Central, and the New York Times.
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