US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has signed a document presented at a meeting of Arctic nations, which affirms the need to support the Paris Agreement, and take action on Climate Change. In doing so, Tillerson may have harmed US Arctic energy exploration interests.
Tillerson, at Arctic meeting, signs document affirming need for action on climate change
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed his name Thursday to a document that affirms the need for international action against climate change, adding further uncertainty to the direction of climate policy under the Trump administration.
The document, signed by Tillerson and seven foreign ministers from Arctic nations meeting this week in Fairbanks, Alaska, says the participants concluded their meeting “noting the entry into force of the Paris agreement on climate change and its implementation, and reiterating the need for global action to reduce both long-lived greenhouse gases and short-lived climate pollutants.”
Called the Fairbanks Declaration, the document says the leaders signed it “recognizing that activities taking place outside the Arctic region, including activities occurring in Arctic states, are the main contributors to climate change effects and pollution in the Arctic, and underlining the need for action at all levels.”
…
After vowing that the U.S. would “continue to be vigilant in protecting the fragile environment in the Arctic,” Tillerson said this about current U.S. climate policy:
“In the United States, we are currently reviewing several important policies, including how the Trump administration will approach the issue of climate change. We’re appreciative that each of you has an important point of view and you should know that we are taking the time to understand your concerns. We’re not going to rush to make a decision. We’re going to work to make the right decision,” he added, pausing ever so briefly before ending with the phrase, “for the United States.”
A video showed at the meeting before his remarks that was produced by the State Department referred to “ecological change,” not climate change.
…
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-arctic-council-20170511-story.html
The following is the Fairbanks Declaration signed by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson;
Source: https://www.state.gov/e/oes/rls/other/2017/270802.htm
The first page of the Fairbanks Declaration affirms the need to support the Paris Agreement.
Actions have consequences.
One of the reasons given for tearing up the Paris Agreement is a centuries old precedent, which allows US courts to defer to international law, even if those laws are not on US statute books.
The Centuries-Old Legal Doctrine Looming Over Trump’s Paris Climate Decision
by Jennifer A Dlouhy
3 May 2017, 13:09 GMT+10 4 May 2017, 05:04 GMT+10
If the U.S. withdraws from the Paris climate accord — an option gaining favor among top White House advisers — Charming Betsy may be partly to blame.
Or, more specifically, the Charming Betsy doctrine. That’s a legal principle stemming from a 213-year-old case involving a schooner of the same name. It says that federal policies should be interpreted, when possible, so they don’t conflict with international laws.
The doctrine has emerged as a major point of contention in White House debates over continued membership in the international climate pact. At issue is whether staying in the accord could legally oblige President Donald Trump to preserve carbon-cutting policies that he is moving to jettison.
The White House counsel’s office warned Trump administration officials in a meeting Thursday and in a separate memo that if the U.S. stays in the global accord, it could arm environmentalists with legal ammunition for lawsuits challenging the president’s domestic regulatory rollbacks.
…
While the Paris Treaty Agreement was never formally recognised as US Law, the advice of the White House counsel is that it could still impact the decisions of US courts when considering vexatious legal challenges to oil and gas drilling activities brought by environmental activists.
In my opinion, Rex Tillerson’s actions in signing the Fairbanks Declaration, with its affirmation of the need to take action to prevent climate change, and the need to support the Paris Agreement, likely worsens the legal environment for resource companies attempting to drill in the arctic, by providing additional ammunition for activist legal challenges.
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From the work done on climate models and in consideration of the paleoclimate record, one must conclude that the climate change we have been experiencing is caused by the sun and the oceans over which Mankind has no control. There is no real evidence that CO2 has any effect on climate and plenty of scientific reasoning to support the idea that the climate sensivity of CO2 is zero. So fighting climate change is just a waste of time and money. Mankind has yet to change a single weather event let alone change global climate.
Damn!
All kinds of ‘cross currents’ running….. Head of the EPA (Scott Pruitt) has reversed an Obama era EPA decision and will allow the Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay AK to proceed with site evaluations and permitting applications.
““We are committed to due process and the rule of law, and regulations that are ‘regular,’” EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a statement. “We understand how much the community cares about this issue, with passionate advocates on all sides. The agreement will not guarantee or prejudge a particular outcome, but will provide Pebble a fair process for their permit application and help steer EPA away from costly and time-consuming litigation.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/12/epa-may-ok-massive-controversial-mine-project-near-pristine-alaskan-bay.html
Pension/superannuation funds are primarily controlled by globalist WC criminals. Your money is not invested by your friendly retail pension/super fund with a glossy brochure. No they simply collect your money then hand it over to Fund Managers. Forget ISIS, your real enemy is based in the USA living in your community and stealing your money at an increasingly alarming rate. The green industry is funded by your money and you can’t do a thing about it. Fund Management executives are making a killing with massive bonuses and kick-backs into offshore accounts. You should get to know them . . . here are the top 15:
1. BlackRock [US/UK
2. Vanguard Asset Management [US/UK
3. State Street Global Advisors [US/UK
4. Fidelity Investments [US
5. BNY Mellon Investment Management [US/UK
6. J.P. Morgan Asset Management [US/UK
7. PIMCO [US/Germany
8. Capital Group [US
9. Prudential Financial [US
10. Legal & General Investment [UK
11. Goldman Sachs Asset Management [US/UK
12. Amundi [France
13. Wellington Management [US
14. Northern Trust Asset Management [US/UK
15. Natixis Global Asset Management [France/US
The USA ‘financial industry’ is largely responsible for the mess we’re in.
They control the UN (at arms-length) and they controlled Obama and increasingly they’ll control Trump.
The enemy is not Islam or Liberals or indeed Green lunatics.
The enemy is the World’s -USA based- Funds Management industry.
Know your enemy . . .
TZ
RE: “Fund Management executives are making a killing with massive bonuses and kick-backs into offshore accounts. ”
Unsubstantiated allegations. Provide evidence…..
My brother is in the ‘business’ pal and it’s rife and carefully controlled by the top echelon primarily across the US, UK and French FM industry. Some of their dirtiest deals have been in Australia and just one example is the French desalination plants (tens of millions and never used) for which everyone (including the local politicians of the day) got a slice of the filthy green stolen money. Get knowledge before coming at me with your deluded, sanctimonious blame-shifting green slogans. You’re either ignorant or complicit . . . which one we wonder?
J Mac I guess you asked for that; however, it appears I was hasty because I’ve just read some of your posts and you’re not a green lunatic . . . so apologies mate! Do check out the Melbourne desal-plant in particular that costs Victorians on every water bill (without any water supplied) and is not needed as there’s more than adequate water and always will be.
UNEP FI/ UNEP Finance Initiative
Industries include:
Banking
Insurance
Investment
Our members include: Northern Trust Corporation, U.S.
Worldwide members list at:
http://www.unepfi.org/members
Indeed Barb the UN’s coordinating body targeting Government (policy makers).
Everyone should read UNEP’s Climate Change page:
http://www.unepfi.org/climate-change/climate-change/
Most banks and institutions in the climate cartel will not invest until Fund Managers invest.
The risk must be underwritten primarily by individuals before private wealth in particular will get involved.
The USA is debt ridden and the climate cartel is accelerating the march to recession from slow to mid pace IMHO.
If the US doesn’t shut the gate soon, China will be the World’s super power inside 100-years.
Libtards won’t matter then.
Warren,
I didn’t ‘ask for that’ rant and I’m not ‘ignorant or complicit’ in any ‘conspiracy’ (one wonders?).
I simply asked you to substantiate your allegations.
UNEP Finance Initiative, 2013
‘Global insurance industry statement’
Building climate and disaster-resilient communities and economies
How the industry’ and governments can work together more effectively
Statement also includes IPCC reference.
http://www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/documents/2013_global_insurance_industry_statement.pdf
J Mac,
Thanks for asking for more information!
Meanwhile the Russians have fitted out a submarine to do seismic prospecting under the ice. I would not surprise me if they are working on or have a submarine that can drill and produce oil and gas under the ice.
“Seismic Prospecting” with a sub…very logical and feasible…Drilling with a sub…not very feasible..or logical….(I’ve helped drill over 2,000 Geothermal Wells in Ontario…)..25 or 50 foot drilling rods and required casing pipes (no use drilling a hole just to have it collapse on you) are extremely heavy..better to let gravity do the work for you from a surface ship…Just sayin’…..
A submarine type drilling platform would enable them to drill in the areas they claim, also not allowing satellites to see what they are up to. I can imagine a submarine type contraption that can be towed to location then tilted up on end to work. It would sit right below the ice with snorkels coming through the ice, or partly surfacing when conditions were favorable. Not economic or logical, however drilling in thick ice that is moving is does not leave many choices.
Sign, and file, works.
I give Tillerson just about as much credibility as Kerry.
Both men can sign whatever they want. Who cares!?
Neither signature does more than signify, “yeah, this idiot signed his name”.
This Fairbanks declaration is a mish-mash of various environmental causes hat are little known and less understood. Here was a chance to oppose the continued protection of polar bears that was never a necessity but was fraudulently enacted thanks to political pressure from environmental groups. But no – yhese Arctic leaders go off with yet another bunch of environmental projects. They even plug tor reduction of mercury pollution which I had not heard of as an Arctic problem. The worst part of this declaration, however, is its support for the Paris agreement which is against our national interest. As the Secretary of State should know but chooses to ignore. It is clearly stupidity but the Secretary of State obviously is not a stupid man. I accuse him here of laziness, of not taking the time to think it through. What amuses me is their treatment of Arctic warming. Arctic warming is not greenhouse warming as I proved in 2011 but nobody involved has done their homework here. The only datum they do have is that Arctic warming is twice as fast as the warming of the rest of the globe is. From that they suggest mitigation and suggest also to “strengthen resilience” whatever that may mean. This nonsense again comes from not doing their homework. Mitigation could not be accomplished without geo-engineering the entire North Atlantic current system. That is because the reason for the speedup of Arctic warming was not an extra dose of carbon dioxide but a rearrangement of the North Atlantic current system at the turn of the twentieth century. Gulf Stream acquired a new path by this and began to deliver more of its warm water into the Arctic Ocean than before. I even had a satellite photo in my paper showing how this warm water was reaching the Russian Arctic. And then Spielhagen et al. took an Arctic cruise and measured directly the temperature of Atlantic water entering the Arctic ocean. It was a record high. But with all these Arctic observations the dopes suggesting mitigation still cling to the carbon dioxide greenhouse fantasy. It is simply incorrect. What’s the difference? you might ask. The difference is in believing that greenhouse gases are warms the Arctic instead of natural forces as I proved. To still cling to the greenhouse gas fantasy after this has been proven to be false amounts to an irresponsible act by our Secretary of State at Fairbanks. To get the facts, read my paper in Energy & Environment, volume 22, issue 8, pages 1069-1083.
“The worst part of this declaration, however, is its support for the Paris agreement which is against our national interest. As the Secretary of State should know but chooses to ignore. It is clearly stupidity but the Secretary of State obviously is not a stupid man. I accuse him here of laziness, of not taking the time to think it through.”
I don’t think you can blame Tillerson for being stupid or lazy. Tillerson is only doing what Trump wants him to do, so if anyone should be blamed, if that is appropriate in this case, then it should be Trump.
Trump’s appointees are not lone wolves going off on their own. They are doing things that have been cleared with Trump beforehand.
Maybe it is more comforting to blame the subordinates, and in some cases, the subordinates may be the ones at fault, but that is not the way Trump operates. He is the one in control. If his appointees are doing something, they are doing it with his blessing, or at least his agreement.
Fair enough. Let’s ask the participants. Did you. Mr. Trump, tell Mr. Tillerson to sign the document with the Paris agreement in it or did he dream it up himself?
Couple of thoughts. Since Russia has tremendously ramped up it’s Arctic exploration in the last year, could this be a move to try to throttle them back? (Russian “collusion” in the election not withstanding)
And
When Trump flips on pulling out of the Paris Agreement, will Pruitt resign?
“Russian “collusion” in the election not withstanding”
Russian interference in the election so far amounts to fake news stories on Russian tv outlets like RT (which noone watches), in combination with a bunch of internet trolls (who noone reads).
None of that activity had ANY effect on the American election.
The only thing that might be connected to Russians interfering in our elections is the publishing of Democrat emails, which revealed the sordid truth about the Democrats and Hillary, for all to see.
That revealing of truth might very well have had an effect on the outcome. The only problem is that email release hasn’t been firmly connected to the Russians. And even so, how can knowing more truth about a candidate be bad for our elections? It might be bad for a certain candidate, but whose fault is that? Not the Russians. Not Trump.
Would Pruitt resign? I think it will depend on what exactly happens. Pruiit has said he thinks humans might be having some kind of effect on the atmosphere, although he doesn’t go so far as to say the climate is changing because of it, instead, he says a lot more study needs to be done. Which is the right attitude.
So Pruitt is not a die-hard skeptic like a lot of us are who think the onus should be on actually proving some kind of link between humans and the climate before assuming there is, without any evidence.
I’m one of those ‘leave it in the ground’ people, because we really don’t need to drill right now. The Permian Basin field has been found to be far more extensive than previously thought, and the Bakken Ridge field’s product wasn’t the poor quality expected. It is much higher, lighter and more volatile than usual for shale oil, making it easier and less expensive to crack.
Vlad Putin sold 50% of the drilling rights in January 2017 to Swiss-based Glencore and Qatar. He also sits on the largest shale oil reserves in the world.
OPEC has been crumbling for several decades. The Saudis may set the commodities market price for oil, but the bubble price was a one-off and is unlikely to be repeated. The wells in the Bakken Ridge that were drilled and capped can be reopened if needed.
While there is exploration off US Atlantic coast areas for more drilling, the previous administration put drilling in those places, the only smart thing that came out of that admin.
Vast improvements in engineering to get the most out of the oil molecule for vehicular use, including the addition of ethanol, simply stretch out the horizon for our petroleum reserves. I’m saying we don’t need to use the reserves we have. We don’t need to do anything but acknowledge their existence and location, in case we ever do need them. They’re like having a massive savings account: don’t spend the product yet! Hang onto it!
We may be coming into one of those recurring periods of interminable cold, aka LIAs, which show up during interglacials. Since I use gas to heat my home and cook, I want a more reliable source for those purposes than electricity generated by unreliable air mass movements and fragile machinery.
I’m just saying leave the reserves in the ground until we really need them. We don’t need them right now.
Vast improvements in engineering to get the most out of the oil molecule for vehicular use, including the addition of ethanol, That ‘vast improvement’ reduces mileage by 10%, meaning you have to burn more fuel to go the same distance, meaning more pollution and more expense to produce. That’s not engineering, that’;s idiotic.
I say let the free market decide, not government. The word “need” is a philosophical one, and doesn’t belong in the discussion. Who decides what is “needed” anyway? And the idea of “leave it in the ground” smacks of malthusianism.
The metastasization of the climate corruption through 0government, academia, religion, corporations and investors is dangerously advanced. Post normal science only thrives in post normal societies. We are in serious hurt.
This awful agreement sets a very bad precedent for the US pulling out of the Paris Agreement (PA).
With Ivanka (a very pro-CAGW supporter) riding herd on Trump’s official Climate Change policy, this agreement indicates The Donald will at least propose “tentative” adherence to the PA–which stinks on ice.
Trump has already twice postponed his decision on the PA, which does not bode well….
Trump is getting some really bad advice from various advisors on this issue, especially from Ivanka…
“We’ll always have Paris”… (cue music:As Time Goes By):
Agree.
Ivanka and Jared are a real problem. Trump seems devoted to them and trusts their advice. To whom in his administration that could & would contradict them would Trump listen?
I would say the 100 trillion of crony Paris “cost” which is largely someone’s income (swamp) is the larger issue. 2 million “green” jobs with many tied to “climate” rationalizations are the consideration short term for a President largely elected over the inadequate level and quality employment compensation and trends. Does he think dropping the hammer on Tesla’s $7500 per car Fed subside and the results that follow are going to help or hurt him? He already signed off “yes” to the ethanol corn inflation boondoggle for the same pragmatism while campaigning. As Ted Cruz what opposing ethanol did for him in Iowa??
President Trump is lacking but the wishy washy skeptical base more so. Skeptics are stuck 30-40 years behind the debate stakes with spaghetti charts and “about science” dogmatism. They should be organized and unified against green central planning and global tyranny as a voting block that the President wouldn’t flirt with betrayal on the Paris withdrawal commitment.
It’s the skeptic community that bares the blame for the underlying spinelessness in most climate debates. I’ll blame the President as well but there is plenty of blame to go around.
Call the WH today, I can’t prove it but I think calls are better then writing;
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact#page
Skip the science links, just tell them if he caves on Paris Climate Fraud withdrawal, which he campaigned supporting, he’ll be dead to you forever and you will oppose him in the next primary because of his betrayal.
The phone center keeps business hours Monday to Friday and it can be tedious.
Possibly one more person who should get the boot.
Yes, save it all for the Russians, North Koreans, and Chinese. They need more motivation for their efforts with mobile missiles, etc.