President Barack Obama spoke on the last day of climate talks at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The President called on all major economies to put forward decisive national actions that will reduce their emissions and turn the corner on climate change.
Excerpt From NYT’s ClimateWire, By DARREN SAMUELSOHN AND LISA FRIEDMAN
Obama Tries to Rally U.N. Climate Conference, but Deadlock Persists
Behind the scenes, dozens of presidents and prime ministers worked on a three-page document that they hope will become the lone outcome of the two-week negotiations here.
But the blame game is also under way with more than 115 heads of state in Copenhagen — many with years of work and their prestige on the line — struggling to bridge a divide between the world’s rich and poor nations. Several major industrialized countries pointed the finger at China for balking at demands to ensure their emission commitments would be open for public scrutiny.
A hush fell over the entire Bella Center during Obama’s eight-minute speech (pdf). He took on climate skeptics with his opening words and then made an all-out push for a collective agreement.
“While the reality of climate change is not in doubt, I have to be honest, as the world watches us today, I think our ability to take collective action is in doubt right now and it hangs in the balance,” he said. “I believe we can act boldly, and decisively, in the face of a common threat. That is why I have come here today. Not to talk, but to act.”
But with nearly 200 countries handing the negotiations over to their heads of state after two brutal weeks of gridlock, those talks have yet to bear any fruit.
China’s leader ignores compromise meeting
Obama and 19 other world leaders, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, met for about 90 minutes in the Bella Center trying to find a compromise.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao boycotted the meeting and instead sent his vice foreign minister, He Yafei. In remarks to reporters, Sarkozy noted the protocol breach and said an agreement remained out of reach because of Beijing’s resistance to emissions monitoring.
Read the rest of the story at the New York Times: Obama Tries to Rally U.N. Climate Conference, but Deadlock Persists
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The key development in Copenhagen was the Red Chinese Premier boycotting the US President and Secy of State. That was amusing. It will be downright hilarious when the Red Chinese boycott the next US Treasury auction. T-Bill rates will explode and the collectivist socialists in the Congress and Obama Administration will have to cut spending or default on US sovereign debt obligations. Cap and Trade and Health Care Reform or mere sound and fury signifying nothing. The Red Chinese are the Conress’s bank, and the bank calls the tune, and the bank is say p@ur momisugly#&-off mates. This is so sweet.
Dismissing the scientific fraud is dismissing the elephant in the room.
The scientific fraud reeks like rotten fish.
This is about control of the world economy; that’s why the proponents are defending the indefensible, because the Science isn’t the important thing, it’s just the fig leaf justifying the ends — international control of the world economy.
On the bright side, Copenhagen is a failure.
Here is the interesting text for me:
“That is why I have come here today. Not to talk, but to act.”
And what happened at Queen Margarethe’s dinner, when Greenpeace crashed the banquet?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601130&sid=aCRvWBO.H8KM
Why, they unveiled a banner that said “”Politicians Talk – Leaders Act”.
I’m terribly sorry, Michael Strong, and I say this with love as your fellow citizen who did not vote for him:
He didn’t drink the KoolAid.
Many of those who voted for him did.
He IS the KoolAid.
If the US Senate rejects whatever is produced here and the Chinese and Russians ignore it; what happens to the EU economy? Are whole industries going to die on the vine, the consumers saddled with high energy costs have their standard of living collapse, any ideas?
I hope they’re keeping the runway clear at Copenhagen Airport otherwise they could get the weekend to talk more nonsense.
Seems a bit surreal, like our U.K. government passing the climate bill on the earliest snow day in 70 years. They’re trying to do this during one of the coldest Decembers in years.
DaveE.
A droid.
Hes like Keith Harris’s Orville and about as smart.
I really thought Obama was smarter than this but one again, like all the rest of them, he’s lived up to my expectations.
He’s sunk. The voters will kick him to bits.
“No grand idea was ever born in a conference,
but a lot of foolish ideas have died there.”
– F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)
This is a courageous bluff by a poker player who is holding a pair of deuces.
The very fact Obama states, “While the reality of climate change is not in doubt…” is a brazen denial of fact.
The fact is that bad science has cast a pall of doubt over things I had no doubt about, even two years ago.
Concerning temperatures: I know it is acceptable to state that there has been warming over the past 100 years, and to follow by debating how much of that warming was caused by man and how much by nature. However the figures have been so “adjusted” that I am entertaining doubts as to whether we can be sure temperatures have risen at all.
Concerning CO2 levels: If just a core of climate scientists can have had such power, and were able to basically maim temperature record-keeping, can I be sure about the small core of scientists in charge of measuring CO2 levels, and their record-keeping?
We can go back and check the temperature records of stations in our local areas, and compare these records with the “adjusted” records used by governments, and be alarmed by how altered the data is.
But can we do the same double-checking, when it comes to the measurement of CO2 atop Mauna Loa? No. Not unless we drive up there with our own CO2 measuring kits. So are we suppose to trust the record-keepers, after our trust has been abused in other areas of science?
I find it difficult to express the level of contempt I feel to the quasi-scientists involved in the Climategate mess. They have abused my trust and squandered my tax-dollars. They have mislead the common man and frightened little children. They have smeared filth on environmentalism, and fouled the fair name of true Science.
For Obama to pretend this hasn’t happened is a denial of reality, and a failure on his part to do what a good leader does, which is to face hard truths, and deal with them.
However, rather than dealing with what is actually is occurring, he deals with what isn’t occurring. What could be more pathetic?
“That’s why I come here today, not to talk, but to act.”
And what did he do?
Dr Bob:
“But the cause of it is in doubt. We don’t know if anthropogenic causes are driving our observed warming. ”
We have an observed COOLING for the past decade. Let us never lose sight of this and the few other unanswerable facts. There has been no warming for 15 years and cooling for 9; the ocean temperature probes record no se surface temp increase; polar ice MASS is on the increase; polar bear populations are NOT declining; sea level estimates indicate a stabilizing trend.
In a recent and very public forum in which I was pitted against an AGW propagandist from Lehigh Univ. I stuck to those types of facts and he had NO responses. Once questioning wandered into ClimateGate, he had all sorts of opinions and excuses and typical apologetic tactics, but he simply could not contradict the RECENT verifiable facts and trends. I invited my colleague to contradict any of the facts I had summarized at the presentation and he couldn’t.
As I said to JoNova recently, there just ain’t nothin’ like numbers and facts and if we stick to them we become more and more credible.
His speech won’t hide the decline either.
“Friends of the Earth said in a statement, “Obama has deeply disappointed not only those listening to his speech at the UN talks, he has disappointed the whole world.”
Looks like the trip is already paying off. Keep up the good work Mr. President.
Very disappointing. Either Obama believes this tripe, in which case he doesn’t know what he is talking about and is just relying blindly on his advisors in this most important of issues; or he doesn’t believe it and is simply going through the motions to save face, appease Holdren, push through an agenda or some other reason. Either way, very disappointing.
oh at least Obama is a conman and nothing more. The trouble is: it is easier to con a conman than a man of integrity. (Since they believe their own fraud methods as truthful)
plenary session is is a throw-back phrase to the days of The Comintern.
I would love to see a nice cartoon depicting the aggregate of the known world’s annointed leaders in a room trying hard not to look at the elephant in the room, and the elephant on the verge of tears wondering what it did wrong.
“While the reality of climate change is not in doubt,…”
These guys believe in the hockey stick. Climate change is seen as something unusual. They see evidence that climate changes as being evidence that CO2 is causing it. “What else could it be?” they ask.
“There is overwhelming evidence.” they say.
BTW what is Obama’s background in science. Some? any?
Breaking news: India, China walk out of climate summit: Report
PTIFriday, December 18, 2009 16:20 IST Email
Copenhagen: India and China have taken a united stand and walked out of the climate summit as Copenhagen talks fail.
Tensions prevailed at the climate talks at Copenhagen today, as Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and China premier Wen Jiabao walked out of the summit along with their respective delegations, as talks failed.
http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_breaking-news-india-china-walk-out-of-climate-summit-report_1324981
George Barwood (07:47:26)
You say ”Obama can only go on what his scientific advisers tell him”
If what you say is correct who is pulling the strings?
Does this mean that what little matter that rolls around inside his head has been neutralized ? ( as between first and second gear ) Listening to his speech, I was reminded of a one armed paper hanger.
Boudu (08:01:38) :
I hope they’re keeping the runway clear at Copenhagen Airport otherwise they could get the weekend to talk more nonsense.
LOLhahaha
I think Gubment Motors should build more Pious Hybrids and give them to developing poor nations. I forgot. The Pious Hybrid is Toyoto.
Maybe we should form Kyoto Motors and build corn stalk fueled hybrids?
NK (08:00:25) :
The key development in Copenhagen was the Red Chinese Premier boycotting the US President and Secy of State. That was amusing. It will be downright hilarious when the Red Chinese boycott the next US Treasury auction. T-Bill rates will explode and the collectivist socialists in the Congress and Obama Administration will have to cut spending or default on US sovereign debt obligations. Cap and Trade and Health Care Reform or mere sound and fury signifying nothing. The Red Chinese are the Conress’s bank, and the bank calls the tune, and the bank is say p@ur momisugly#&-off mates. This is so sweet.
You’ve named only two of the possible consequences. The third is more likely for the “one nation under obamanation”:
TAX INCREASES
AGW is one more leak away from falling apart.
That Hypenchangen is turning into a wasted effort is great news for the environment, for people and the quality of their lives.
Looks like the bribes and guilt trip money wasn’t enough even with Hopey there to ply his silver tongue. Maybe he just didnt find the right G77 spot to apply it to.