Climate Change Talks Get a Jumpstart
[Guest post by DRJ]
Today’s Copenhagen climate change beneficiaries are poor nations who have renewed hope because the United States promised to mobilize more money:
“U.S. backing for a $100 billion climate fund to help poor nations revived hopes for a deal to combat global warming on Thursday as world leaders met on the eve of a U.N. deadline for breaking deadlock.
***
“The United States is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a news conference.Such funds would be more than all current aid flows to poor nations, a U.N. official said, and in line with demands put forward for African nations. “That’s very encouraging,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said of the U.S. pledge.”
President Obama is discovering what many of his predecessors did best — buying popularity abroad by promising American taxpayers’ money.
— DRJ
Pelosi’s posse of course will approve this $100 billion giveaway; while debating whether it’s worth it to get bullets and beans to the boys in Afghanistan.
Mike Myers (3c9845) — 12/17/2009 @ 2:33 pmNo, the way it’s phrased, I think it’s just words. Notice first that they’re saying they’ll do it by 2020. Even if he’s reelected, Obama won’t be president in 2020.
And they’re talking about “jointly mobilizing”. That means Obama thinks most of the money is going to come from someone else. This is like his idea that the best way to increase the military force in Afghanistan is to ask “allies” nicely to contribute more troops.
Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 12/17/2009 @ 3:04 pmIt doesn’t matter how much funny money Obama “pledges” for this nonsense; China has declared that there will be no deal at Copenhagen (in reality China has declared that there will never a climate change deal, ever, but some people might want to comfort themselves by believing that they just meant for Copenhagen).
chaos (9c54c6) — 12/17/2009 @ 3:08 pmFrom/about the Chavez speech …
When he said the process in Copenhagen was “not democratic, it is not inclusive, but isn’t that the reality of our world, the world is really and imperial dictatorship…down with imperial dictatorships” he got a rousing round of applause.
When he said there was a “silent and terrible ghost in the room” and that ghost was called capitalism, the applause was deafening.
But then he wound up to his grand conclusion – 20 minutes after his 5 minute speaking time was supposed to have ended and after quoting everyone from Karl Marx to Jesus Christ – “our revolution seeks to help all people…socialism, the other ghost that is probably wandering around this room, that’s the way to save the planet, capitalism is the road to hell….let’s fight against capitalism and make it obey us.” He won a standing ovation.
Can Barcky commit to this $100,000,000,000 without the Senate’s approval, that whole treaties thingie?
JD (c7b6c7) — 12/17/2009 @ 3:08 pmAbout all Chavez is good for is a red meat for commies speech. His Bolivarian revolution nonsense has run into a quagmire in Central and South America and it’s been that way since Calderon won the presidency of Mexico. The tide south of the border from Tijuana to Tierra del Fuego has definitely been turned against Chavism.
chaos (9c54c6) — 12/17/2009 @ 3:20 pmYeah, but Obama made sure that Chavez’s failure was in no way due to the US policies. Just think, he almost got away with foisting one of his looney hacky commie cronies into the Presidency of one of our most loyal allies. Glad the man has his priorities straight.
Dmac (a964d5) — 12/17/2009 @ 3:27 pmWell the point is it was George Bush’s rather clever foreign policy (ignore Chavez and his cronies in Bolivia and Ecuador and wannabe cronies in other countries), build better relationships with the allies we already have, and let the neutrals decide for themselves. Brazil decided Chavez wasn’t what they wanted and we won the game right there.
chaos (9c54c6) — 12/17/2009 @ 3:30 pmReparations, it’s all about reparations. The cheers for Chavez is the clue.
I sure hope Obama has the money in his book fund…
bill-tb (541ea9) — 12/17/2009 @ 4:00 pmHe is pledging money that could otherwise be used to pay off foreign creditors. Heads he wins, tails they lose. You can bet they’ve noticed.
ras (1d003b) — 12/17/2009 @ 5:32 pmThey say it will only cost the US about $100 billion …
Neo (7830e6) — 12/17/2009 @ 10:35 pmBoortz says:
krusher (d7502e) — 12/18/2009 @ 2:21 am“Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has pledged
$100 billion dollars A YEAR to “developing nations”
to help them fight global warming. That’s promising
$100 billion a year that we don’t have to fight a
problem that doesn’t exist.”
Given the financial realities, shouldn’t some of these countries, such as China, be sending $100,000,000,000 to the USA instead of the other way around? I mean, we’re also the ones who are going to be making the biggest change in our infrastructure. It’s not like China’s going to stop developing, but we are.
Why would the poorest nation on the planet be sending money to others, to helpt hem out? It’s like we’re the insecure unemployed older brother of the world, selling blood plasma to afford an impressive Christmas present.
Dustin (44f8cb) — 12/18/2009 @ 4:38 amDustin, the Chinese already did. What do you think Obama is spending?
SPQR (26be8b) — 12/18/2009 @ 6:26 am