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GUEST: David Hamilton, Director of The Global Warming and Energy Program at the Sierra Club

British economist Sir Nicholas Stern has authored a 700 page review on the economic impact of climate change. The report warns that the world faces an economic collapse on the level of a World War or a depression if climate change is not averted. Published just yesterday, it is the most comprehensive review ever carried out on the economics of climate change. The White House responded yesterday with a non-committal statement welcoming the Stern review as a contribution to the body of knowledge on climate change but did not address its calls for fundamental change in policy. The statement said, “The president has long recognized that climate change is a serious issue. He has committed the nation to investing in new technologies.” The report’s author, Sir Nicholas Stern plans on traveling to the US to promote the recommendations of his report. But his presence is unlikely to change Bush’s policies. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has tried to persuade President Bush to take on global warming, hired former Vice President Al Gore on Monday to advise his government on climate change.

Click here to read the Stern Report.