Obama Delays Copenhagen Trip
[Guest post by DRJ]
President Obama originally planned to travel to Copenhagen on December 9 for the opening day of the climate change summit and continue to Oslo on December 10 to receive his Nobel Peace Prize. Now he’s changed his plans and will make separate trips so he can attend the final day of the Copenhagen summit on December 18:
“President Barack Obama will push back his visit to the international climate change treaty negotiations in Copenhagen from the first week of the conference to its final scheduled day, a senior White House official said this afternoon.
The move comes in response to greenhouse gas emissions reduction pledges made in recent days by China and India. It will put Obama at the conference at the same time as dozens of other heads of state, and it immediately raises expectations anew for some type of climate agreement to result from the talks.
By switching his visit from Dec. 9 to Dec. 18, Obama appears to be betting that his presence can – as he has expressed hope for several times in the past – push the negotiations “over the top” toward an agreement.”
However, France’s Sarkozy questioned Obama’s travel plans from the time they were first announced, saying that “[o]nly the heads of state and government can take the major decisions which have to be made” and the “decisive moment is December 17 and 18.” Score one for Sarkozy.
What are those decisions, you ask? Here’s a hint: It involves the President promising to spend more of American taxpayers’ money:
“This week, the President discussed the status of the negotiations with Prime Minister Rudd, Chancellor Merkel, President Sarkozy, and Prime Minister Brown and concluded that there appears to be an emerging consensus that a core element of the Copenhagen accord should be to mobilize $10 billion a year by 2012 to support adaptation and mitigation in developing countries, particularly the most vulnerable and least developed countries that could be destabilized by the impacts of climate change. The United States will pay its fair share of that amount and other countries will make substantial commitments as well.”
I hope Americans aren’t planning a big Christmas this year. We need to save for climate change.
— DRJ
The least developed countries are a lot more likely to be destabilized by rampant allegations of witchcraft or a surprise buy one get one free 3 Moon Wolf Shirt offer at whatever passed for a Target in the least developed world than they are likely to be destabilized by climate change I think.
happyfeet (2c63dd) — 12/4/2009 @ 7:50 pm$10 billion is a rounding error in the scheme of Obama spending. He could have hidden that in the Porkulous Bill or final Fiscal 2009 Budget Bill with all its earmarks without raising a sweat.
daleyrocks (718861) — 12/4/2009 @ 7:59 pmIs he just going to hang out in Europe after he gets his Nobel prize waiting to go to Copenhagen or is he going to come back and fly back doubling his carbon footprint?
SaintGeorgeGentile (dc531b) — 12/4/2009 @ 8:16 pmThe United States will pay its fair share of that amount and other countries will make substantial commitments as well.”
Kinda like the UN.
Matador (176445) — 12/4/2009 @ 8:28 pmin response to greenhouse gas emissions reduction pledges made in recent days by China and India
They promised to do nothing unless the “rich” countries pay for it. Guess who’s “rich”
China and India will kiss him and then do sex to him.
Neo (7830e6) — 12/4/2009 @ 8:37 pmI have a confession to make.
My family has three cars. Two are high-efficiency Japanese models rated at least at 23 mph on the highway and 21 in town. However, my son, drives an old Chevy pick-up, 1999, to be exact.
Funny thing, though, is it gets about the same mileage.
My family recycles. I mean, we recycle everything. We have two recycling bins and one trash can. The trash can usually stands empty on garbage day. All of our lawn and garden matter is placed in recyclable bags and is taken to a compost site.
My home is organic. We do not use chemical pesticides or fertilizers. If we have weeds in our yard, we dig them out or use vinegar to kill them. We use compost for fertilizer
If we have bugs, I use boric acid in weep holes and hidden places to kill them.
I keep my thermostat at 68, or less, in the winter and 78, or more, in the summer. I change the filters in my HVAC system every month.
I don’t drive an efficient car or recycle or conserve because I believe in AGW. I do it because it makes sense.
And that’s the whole problem with the scare tactics and the fake data and Al Gore and that fat guy that makes movies and the rest of their lot.
People are not stupid. I resent the implied implication of the whole green, left movement that people are stupid. And, I really resent the implication that the only way to make people act, in their own self-interest, is by government fiat.
Ag80 (3d1543) — 12/4/2009 @ 10:15 pmNah, I think people are stupid. They fell for Obama’s crap and now he’s president.
the other JD (5e45fa) — 12/5/2009 @ 12:08 amI also have a confession to make.
I live 20 miles south of Birmingham Alabama. It’s 33 degrees right now and we are expecting snow today. Anthropogenic global warming is total bovine excrement.
We have two vehicles – both German, one of which is an SUV. Hey, it snows here and my wife needs an X5. I’m doing my part. Next year I’m getting a Mini Cooper-S. My 3-series is speed limited at 128; the Mini does 141.
My thermostat is always set on 72°, but in the winter I do reverse direction on all my ceiling fans. I’m not sure my heat pump has a filter, but I’ll check.
My wife recycles a lot. I’m not heavily into it myself, although I consider myself a naturalist. I recycle dead squirrels who make the Darwinian decision to climb onto my bird feeder. You should know that the crossman pellet gun that served me so well (90 kills in Williamsville NY) has been replaced by my Browning BL-22 with a Nikon Prostaff scope. I use low velocity CCI .22 shorts which make less noise than slamming a screen door and shoots 1 MOA groups at 50 yards.
I don’t know if this counts as recycling, but I buy scrap wheel weights from the tire shop at $20 per 100 lbs., melt them down add Tin and cast them into 230 grain .45 ACP bullets. They aren’t as pretty as the Hornady FMJ rounds, but they make shooting my Model 1911s cheaper than shooting a .22. [Seriously.]
One organic contribution I do make is leaving the dog poop. In 5,000 years some archeologist sifting through a land fill will find tens of thousands of plastic bags filled with dog doodoo. He’ll write a paper about it. Some descendent of Michael Moore will make it into a documentary.
Two years ago, a wasp stung me. I killed him and every insect he ever saw. I’m waging a personal insect Jihad! We also have these big orange flightless wasps – cow killers. Fire ants leave my yard alone after I fed them 50 lbs of Amdro. They thought it was candy.
There are ticks here. I have a John Deere riding lawn mower with a 178 lb. drop spreader. In the spring, I buy Ortho insecticide in 40 lb. bags. Same with broad leaf herbicide. The mover even has a cup holder so I can drink beer, listen to Rush or Beck while poisoning bugs. It doesn’t get any better than that.
arch (24f4f2) — 12/5/2009 @ 3:40 amEar Leader is going to get there just in time to fail….. gotta love his talent for that.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 12/5/2009 @ 4:29 amI don’t know how big a deal this is. Off of nemory Obama was already planning on going back at the end. Regardless, this is good news. I was just talking about how stupid it is for Obama to visit Copenhagen three times in a year. Personally I can’t wait for elections.
G (d787ac) — 12/5/2009 @ 7:45 amarch, are there any small houses for rent nearby ? That sure beats California.
Mike K (2cf494) — 12/5/2009 @ 7:58 amAP makes another nauseous contribution to the AGW hysteria, without even mentioning Climategate.
Even those in denial, who don’t “believe” in climate change, will be here in search of a hearing, along with “believers” Al Gore, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Prince Charles.
Copenhagen was viewed in 2007, at the start of a new two-year negotiating track, as the deadline for decisive action, to replace those expiring Kyoto quotas. That looks very likely now to slip to late 2010 and a Mexico City conference.
One veteran of the talks counsels against despair.
Says former U.S. climate negotiator Eileen Claussen, now with the Pew Center on Global Climate Change:
“I think the most important thing we can do here is get started in the most ambitious way we can.”
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407) — 12/5/2009 @ 8:22 am“Emerging consensu.” That sounds expensive.
Patricia (b05e7f) — 12/5/2009 @ 9:14 am“Emerging consensus.” That sounds expensive.
Patricia (b05e7f) — 12/5/2009 @ 9:14 amMike K:
Two houses over from mine, a 20 year old 5 br, 3 bath on a wooded 3 acre lot sold for $195K. Another house on the other end of my street is listed here
http://www.homes.com/listing/96451842/154_Big_Oak_Dr_MAYLENE_AL_35114
Don’t rent; buy.
Oh, taxes are about $1,000 per year.
arch (24f4f2) — 12/5/2009 @ 10:04 amWill we be treated to the spectacle of Kent (the crook) Conrad demanding that a surtax be placed on the USA in order to pay for the Global Warming $$$ distributions??
Thought not.
iconoclast (d4bca6) — 12/5/2009 @ 10:20 am