I try to remind people that the U.N. has not succeeded at much of anything during its history. Mostly it just makes pronouncements and consumes cash. When it comes to doing any real work, they fall down on the job, because most of the people that make up the U.N. have never had to do any real work themselves.
So I hope this lesson on the U.N. to Seth Borenstein sinks in. He’ll hardly forget his day in the cold I’m sure.
Temperature and Weather on Dec14th in Copenhagen: Hi 33 °F Lo 31 °F Humidity average 89%, winds averaged 6 mph for a wind chill of 26°F. Overcast.
From the Climate Pool:
“You have no idea how important water and a bathroom is until you don’t have it,” he said after waiting 7 hours and 20 minutes to enter the Copenhagen climate talks.
With U.N. security letting in only those cleared last week, hundreds of accredited delegates, journalists and NGO representatives were left to stand for hours in near-freezing temperatures before being let through. “It was crazy,” AP’s Seth Borenstein said. “You couldn’t leave the line. You couldn’t go to the bathroom, you couldn’t eat. Then snowflakes started falling. One woman even said, ‘if lightning strikes me, would they take me out of line?'”
People started handing out food — one gave out tangerines, another croissants. A man screamed “I don’t need food. I need socks! I’m freezing my ass off out here.” At one point, a U.N. official announced the wait would be longer, prompting the crowd to boo and chant “Let Us In!”
An Indian TV crew member interviewing actor Rahul Bose quipped “we’ll just do our interviews out here!” to which Bose mused “when bad things happen in a first-world country, it’s really a disaster!”
Seth himself stepped into the line at 7:55 a.m. and was through at 3:15 p.m., but only after another AP reporter, John Heilprin, “saved my bacon” by persuading a U.N. security guard to go out and fetch him. “John was afraid to go out himself in case they wouldn’t let him back in … the first thing I did when I saw him was give him a big hug. I have never been so grateful to be indoors.” Seth’s neighbors in line? “Oh they’re still out there.”
And it looks like they might stay there. With 40,000 people registered and Bella Center’s capacity only 15,000, the U.N. introduced a new quota system and ordered NGOs to cut down their numbers. Police shut down the Bella Center’s subway stop in a bid to ease the congestion. The situation can only get worse as more than 100 heads of state and government, including President Obama, show up this week with their entourages.
Many among the 3,500 accredited journalists worry they may be “locked down” in the press area and kept away from the conference center’s central atrium where delegates, presidents and premiers would circulate.
UPDATE: At 5 p.m., U.N. officials told everyone still in line that accreditation would close at 6 p.m. and so they should leave until Tuesday morning. Police started pulling people out of the crowd, which shouted back “Shame on the U.N.!” The U.N. then apologized for the inconvenience — a gesture met with more booing and chanting.
Katy Daigle is based in London and covers international news for the AP
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And they want the U.N. to run our global carbon system and handle all the money? Hell they can’t even handle the press line.
We had 34 F today in Pendleton. Surfs up! No kidding on the surf either. All that snow and ice is melting in the foothills and causing streams to flood! Oh yeh. Forgot. Flooding in December is a global warming thing. Now if I can just get my sewer line to unfreeze in Wallowa County I will be happy to trumpet global warming. Or at least local warming.
Couldn’t have happened to a better bunch of gullible fools.
So Ahnold went to Copenhagen… as a Californian, I’m really embarrassed.
paulhan (16:24:06) :
Truly pathetic. I still have not found “Thou shall not burn carbon”in the Bible. Plenty about false witness, stealing, oppressing the poor, and NOT TRUSTING GOD.
Let’s fix the false witness, stealing and oppression of the poor, ie. our banking and money system. That could easily be at fault for whatever environmental problems we have. It has already killed 10s or 100s of millions.
Robert of Ottawa (16:33:24) : So, is it snowing in Copenhagen? I know we all wish it would. WeatherAction forecasts snow for 14-16/17 and the BBC, bless their little cotton socks, is reporting heavy snow for Tuesday evening..
Eastern Europe is White, The Balkans and even much of Spain. But North west Europe alas no so far. Here is the latest picture:
http://www.natice.noaa.gov/pub/ims_gif/DATA/cursnow_asiaeurope.gif
Hey, PaulH (15:22:01)
The quote was:
“I don’t need food. I need socks! I’m freezing my ass off out here.”
Sounds to me like this man needs not socks, but some woolen jockey shorts;-).
I LOVE the incompetence on display in Copenhagen. What a debacle!
This conference is a case study on how to make something simple, a get together of like-minded people, into something FUBAR.
Put private enterprise on the job, e.g., the good folks who present Macworld.
Want to mess it up? Put a government or the U.N. in charge.
“Tom in Florida
joshua corning (15:27:43) : ” It (UN) succeeded in stopping the US and the USSR from ending the world in a nuclear war.”
Don’t know how old you are or where you are from but the UN had nothing to do with the US and USSR not going to war. It was the policy of mutually assured destruction and the leaders of both countries finally coming face to face with that real possibility that allowed cooler heads to prevail.”
Fully loaded B-52s orbiting at their Failsafe points a few times certainly had an effect on the Russian thinking.
I think the UN tackling climate change (how come it was never declared a “war on climate change” BTW?) makes less sense than Askaninja’s approach (OT but he’s funny… it’s festivus season after all):
Maybe there should be a end of year climate change funnies thread?
Back on topic… if they do get an agreement at COP15 I want the guy that rationed the registrations to be the one that rations CO2 permits /nod
Richard (16:36:03) :
You kill me! I wonder why I typed that “help the insanity” Sorry I meant “Stop the insanity”. I love science and the method. Don’t like what it is growing into. The Political crap!
What I can’t quite grasp is why all those people were so anxious to get into that place. I dare say there would be a dental surgery close-by with an in-door waiting room.
“The video that Anthony Watts does not want you to see: The Climate Denial “Crock of the Week””
I don’t know if Watts tried to take down this video or what his reasons would be, but I can tell you what I do know. The author of those “Crock of the Week” videos, greenman, is a bold faced liar and bigot who refuses to correct his lies when confronted with them.
“And I though that all Pro-Global-Warming-Brownshirt-Activist-Journalists had a special preferential treatment pass to the UN… silly me!!!”
He should have just shown them the Climategate emails with his name on them … he could have got a VIP suite. And a limo. And a private jet.
You know, all of those things that the people who care about the planet deserve to have while they are caring about the planet half a planet away from their homes.
Thanks for the Christmas Tree video- brilliant, but guys (and gals)- rush to this link if you want the best ever laugh on the jokers at Copenhagen:
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/12/14/mckibben-faith-and-work/
It is truly sad when people misunderstand everything. I’ll guess that you are 12 or mentally retarded?
Ray (15:10:11) :
A note: Since WUWT has an International Status now, it would be great to also use International Units… it would avoid using unit converters.
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Not to worry Ray, once the International Governance Committee takes over control of these United States, then the Metric System will be required under penalty of the law. Just ask the Britons that wanted to use the traditional system of measurement.
Off with their heads!
Just between you and me, I’d rather stick to our English system as an act of defiance. For years I never made a big deal out of the fact that I served in the military or was a Christian. Now that they (I) have been painted as “terrorists’ by the Obama administration, I wear the labels proudly!
Regards,
Steamboat Jack
O/T but Tips have gone.
A question for Leif:
It seems to me that sunspot 1035 is the same sunspot that has now made three revolutions of the Sun; in effect, not a new one, although I understand how they are counted.
I don’t understand at all why those people wanted to be on the queue chilled for hours, since there could be nothing meaningful going on inside……………..
With apologies if this has been posted previously.
The BBC had its first balanced debate this evening. Richard Lindzen, Bjorn Lomborg and Bob [snip] Watson, half an hour of balance, informed, reasoned discussion. Granted only viewers of BBC4 would have seen it, but hey, progress is progress.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pft7c/The_Environment_Debate/
It really is worth a look, if only to see just how much climategate has forced the hand of the BBC. Hopefully someone can disseminate the show on a less restricted format than the BBC iPlayer.
If I’d have been in Copenhagen, I’d have been taking orders for food, drink, socks, windcheaters, and stand-in-lines for comfort breaks. AND THEY WOULD HAVE PAID FOR IT.
Anything written with an AP byline leaves me cold anyway.
“…to which Bose mused “when bad things happen in a first-world country, it’s really a disaster!”
Funny how an artificially created crisis work isnt it Bose?
Clueless git.
Seems to me this guy needs to get out in the real world more instead of spending all his time in an air conditioned office. Anyone who has gone to a highschool foot ball game, or waited at a bus stop knows near freezing temps will soak right through you if you are improperly dressed for the weather conditions. It is more a commentary on the crowds general lack of common sense (although some of them appear to have come prepared if they had snack munchies to give away).
Larry
Agreed. Mercenaries have sorted out more problems than blue helmets in real hot spots.
There was quite a heated but restrained debate between Monbiot and Plimer on Lateline (Asutralian ABC) last night:
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/
Just click on the “Plimer, Monbiot cross swords in climate debate.” There was a lot of ducking and weaving and neither plimer nor Monbiot did their cause any favours IMHO.