News: Author Archive
‘VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI denounced the failure of world leaders to agree to a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen last month, saying Monday that world peace depends on safeguarding God’s creation.’
via Pope denounces failure to forge new climate treaty – washingtonpost.com.
‘As Arctic sea ice melts, polar bears are changing their habitat, shifting from their preferred ice hunting grounds to land and open water, according to a new long-term study.’
‘BEIJING – A U.S. solar power company said Saturday it will help build a series of solar thermal power plants in China, as the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases tries to decrease its heavy reliance on coal, imported gas and oil.’
via eSolar strikes deal to build power plants in China – Yahoo! News.
‘…The end of the meeting saw leaders of the US and the BASIC group of countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) hammering out a last-minute deal in a back room as though the nine months of talks leading up to this summit, and the Bali Action Plan to which they had all committed two years previously, did not exist.’
via BBC News – Why did Copenhagen fail to deliver a climate deal?.
‘The UK government has said it is “disappointed” the Copenhagen climate talks did not achieve legal commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.’
via BBC News – Copenhagen climate talks disappointing, says UK.
‘LONDON Reuters – Some carbon emissions trading desks are expanding or diversifying into other commodities as continued low carbon prices and a weak U.N. climate deal have dulled the market.’
via Frustrated carbon traders try other commodities | Reuters.
‘ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said Tuesday that it’s unclear whether Congress will be able to pass cap and trade legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions this year.’
Copenhagen, Dec 18, 2:30 p.m. press conference.
Nancy Pelosi spoke before the press at the COP 15, making statements which seemed directed more towards shoring up support with the U.S. public than to explaining the U.S. position to the international audience before her. After hearing nearly two weeks of testimony about the projected extreme impacts of climate change, such as hundreds of millions expected to be displaced by rising sea levels, Pelosi’s meandering series of comments seemed out of place and overly U.S. focused. The most focused comment of her press conference is included in this excerpt, where Pelosi says “We come here about one word – it’s about jobs”. For other nations the focus obviously went beyond “jobs”, with island nation Tuvalu and G77 nations discussing climate change in terms of “survival” and calling a weak agreement a “suicide-pact”.
Report by James George
Copenhagen, Dec 15, 2009.
Al Gore Part 1
Excerpts from Al Gore’s speech inside the Bella Center at the COP 15:
“The alternative to success is unacceptable.”
“This historic gathering is being attended by leaders from almost every nation in the world, some of them already here, most of them due to arrive in the next forty eight hours. But there is one important part of humankind not present and not formally represented at these negotiations. Even though I have no credentials entitling me to speak for them, I would nevertheless like to advocate their interests. They are the generations that will follow us. The decisions made here in Copenhagen will powerfully determine the shape and the nature of the future that they will inherit from us. They will not care very much about some of the disputes that are raging here in this conference. They will find it difficult to understand how some of these disputes could be allowed to interfere with the result that is essential for the survival of our civilization.”
“More is at stake than many seem to realize. Now that global civilization is interconnected on every continent as never before, we here must reclaim our ability to use the rule of law as an instrument of human redemption. That is our challenge. The future of human civilization is threatened as never before.”
Report by James George
‘Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) — France’s constitutional court rejected a proposed tax on carbon emissions, saying a web of exemptions violated the principal of equality and rendered efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions ineffective.’
via French Constitutional Court Rejects Carbon Tax (Update1) – BusinessWeek.