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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Tiger Woods has a few indiscretions.
The Climate Change Cabal has screwed tens of millions.
Alarmists went to Copenhagen, which turned into Nopenhagen, soon to become Mopenhagen.
I think Obama’s masters won’t be at all please by what was yet another poor performance. It lacked conviction, had no new initiatives and failed to make the sort of impact he making on the run-up to his election. Same old, same old.
From being hailed by the public of the USA as a leader who would pursue a new style of open government, he has proved himself inept in his choice of advisers and mediocre at maintaining the promised momentum for change.
No wonder his popularity has fallen even quicker than his predecessor’s. I expect he will make an exit stage left sharply, and give Hilary a turn.
In all my days I have never seen a President work this hard in trying to attain a one term Presidency.
Barry Heads my man, MIssion Accomplished. You have done enough already to ensure you get voted out in 2012, so take a break.
What has this anti-Obama venom visibly and overwhelmingly present in this and the other thread got to do with the criticism of CAGW? It’s poisonous, politicized and unwarranted. I recall that our host here has said that he was initially pro-AGW. I was too, and I’m sure many of us here were. It is easy to trust “leading scientists” until you do some serious work to familiarize yourself with the data. That takes a minimum of hundreds of hours to form a coherent picture to be able to look past the argumentum ad auctoritatem games of post-normal science. It took me closer to 1000 hours before I started switching camps. And it might never have happened if not for the clear headed and convincing articles and studies of Pielke Sr whom I came to hold in very high regard.
Obama is not to be blamed for relying on his advisors. Is part of no conspiracy. Is no “marxist” (sic) etc.
Political polarisation of the scientific debate does NOT help the skeptic cause. Period.
Looks like they are into overtime, and are calling for talks to continue into the weekend. Rumors of an Obama press conference. They are getting desperate. I think the “trolley” has run out of steam, the wheels have come off and it is pretty much sidelined. They’ll pretty much need a miracle at this point.
David Middleton (07:38:15)
I refuse to believe that we can’t control plate tectonics and I demand action.
Continental drift is a far greater threat to the future of our tiny, fragile planet, the survival of our children and our beloved biodiversity than mere temperature changes.
We have continents floating around in a completely uncontrolled manner and nobody cares! No international conferences, no cursading (sic) NGOs, no fasts for tectonic justice.
Well, enough is enough. I demand action.
STOP CONTINENTAL DRIFT
This just in, to summarize agreement … The West will print more money to dole out to despots with the ‘cap and fraud’ to come later.
Obama has done for AGW what the did for the US Olympics bid, nearly as bad as Gordon Browns record on visiting scenes of future disaster.
How about this idea for “decisive national action”
America VOTE this Dope OUT
“The reality of climate change is not in doubt” – Barack Obama
ALso… The reality of air is not in doubt.
The reality of shoes is not in doubt.
The reality of C, R, IPL, etc. is not in doubt…
In a very literal sense, Obama’s statement is 100% accurate (Unusual for him,) since the climate has been changing for 4+ billion years.
I wonder what the life forms of the times said about the incredibly toxic shift of the atmosphere to corrosive oxygen… THAT was a pretty catastrohpic change.
From the Bacterial Times, a few (billion) years ago: We have to do something to stop this deadly increase of Oxygen…
Friday WSJ: “The agreement sets a target of two degrees C for the increase in global temperatures.”
With powers of God like that, you can only wonder how they view all the rest of us.
What a moving speech. I can visualise the Chinese premier being moved to tears and spurred into action by it.
He will be grateful however for Obama’s commitment on behalf of China to “do their bit” for “climate change”, thereby committing America to its downfall and the rise of China to world dominance.
on behalf of America… sorry lol
“Told that the United Nations wanted him to wrap up, Chavez said “I’m answering questions. Tell them to bring the police.” NYTimes
Apparently Hugo has seen the film of Khrushchev and is prepared to act more memorably than banging a shoe on a podium. An utterly pathetic performance from world socialist/communists and their N/A and European toadies.
On happier news legal beagles are assembling a variety of prosecutions that will effectively eviscerate corrupt Agencies who have knowingly supported false claims of AGW, and covered up climate facts. Like Jack Web said: “You gotto follow the rules.” And the rules in this world are corrupt Mafioso-style scientists and their lackeys are going to the Big House. For a long time.
Expect rats exiting Can’t Copenhagen with greatest of vigor.
A tentative deal has been reached: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-obama-climate19-2009dec19,0,2331799.story
“It’s not sufficient to combat the threat of climate change but its an important first step,” the official said.
An Obama press conference is scheduled to announce the agreement.
So, they pulled a Hail Mary, I guess.
Not a great success, but at least not a complete failure either.
Looks like Obama gets to go home to a snowstorm in D.C. Ha-ha.
So… can we keep our hundred billion…?
Jeff L (11:18:46) :
The irony in the whole thing is that China ia the only country acting like a capitalist society & none of the capitalist are.
China is still an unelected minority rule government (CCP) that censors open access to the internet, is destroying Tibetan culture, arrests religious practitioners, and solely supports military fascism in Burma. A thoroughly despicable Human Rights track record. Not to mention the real pollution they are spewing into the global atmosphere. Not to mention lead painted toys and childrens products.
Totalitarianism with a free-market veneer is still totalitarianism.
December 16, 2009
Could the Senate Ever Ratify an International Climate Treaty? Sixty-Seven Votes, Not Sixty, Might Be the Real Challenge
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/12/could-the-senat.html
“It’s not sufficient to combat the threat of climate change but its an important first step,” the official said.
Eleven more and they might get sober.
(Daily Telegraph)
“Barack Obama has thrashed out a “meaningful agreement” with China, India and South Africa at the Copenhagen summit, in an “historic first step forward” on climate change action, US officials have said”.
Barack is expected to select the next 3 countries early in the new year!!!
I’m just hoping that when the prosecutions wind up, corrupt spokesmen like Robert Gibbs will still think spending some time in jail will just be “silly”. Or maybe he’ll just cop a mentally-incompetence plea and be shipped off for a long stay at Gitmo–new home for recovering climaholics of the church of Climate Changetology.
I don’t think Obama’s heart was in that speech at all. I think he knows that its better for COP15 to fail amidst global falling out than to “succeed” and he has to try and sell massive energy price rises to Congress and the American people.
“THE REALITY OF CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOT IN DOUBT”
WHO SAID THAT ? DOPEY, OF THE SEVEN DWARFS—- NO , IT WAS MR HOPE-A- DOPE.
AS A PROUD AMERICAN, I’M SO GLAD THAT YOU AND PLOS’Y SPENT MY MONEY SO WELL.
Buddenbrook (13:00:53).
I mostly agree with you. This issue should not be political.
But it has been made intensely political by the enviro-lobby and their bought and paid for politicians.
I’m not a ‘turn the other cheek’ kinda guy, especially when Obama, for no scientifically legitimate reason, just gave away $100 billion of this country’s money.
And for what, exactly? To buy some new best friends? Or because our economy is in great shape, so we can easily afford it? Who was he elected to represent? America, or corrupt dictatorships and the kleptocrats running the UN?
Sorry, but simply handing out $100 billion of our money for no good reason is criminal, IMHO. Who is going to have to provide that money? The Tooth Fairy?