I thought I would take the next week or so to talk more about energy, energy supply, and climate change. We'll also talk about the politics surrounding these issues in the United States.
COP15 is opening in Copenhagen on December 7. COP doesn't stand for Copenhagen; it stands for Conference of Parties, annual meetings that grew out of an international treaty, called the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), entered into by 192 countries and which came into force in 1994. The US signed and and the US Senate ratified the treaty under George HW Bush in 1992. The UNFCCC is described by the UN as:
In the Kyoto Protocol, countries are defined in three ways: Annex I, Annex II, and Developing Countries. In short, Annex I countries are industrialized countries, Annex II countries are a subset of Annex I, members of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), and help pay the costs for developing nations to come into emissions compliance according to the Protocol.
The Kyoto Protocol established mechanisms to limit emissions by country and was originally planned to be in effective from 2008-2012, with a new protocol expected to established to succeed Kyoto. The program was progressing well until George W. Bush killed the US' participation in March 2001, announcing that he would not submit it to the Senate for ratification. The US has been a mere observer in the ensuing COPs. President Obama has signalled a change to that policy by pushing climate change and energy policy on Capitol Hill and announcing that he will personally attend COP 15 himself.
We lost a valuable 8 years in fighting pollution of our air and water during the Bush administration, and actually went backwards in many areas. The Obama administration intends to change those policies, but there is a long way to go.
We'll talk more about COP 15, Kyoto, UNFCCC, and climate change legislation in coming days.
COP15 is opening in Copenhagen on December 7. COP doesn't stand for Copenhagen; it stands for Conference of Parties, annual meetings that grew out of an international treaty, called the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), entered into by 192 countries and which came into force in 1994. The US signed and and the US Senate ratified the treaty under George HW Bush in 1992. The UNFCCC is described by the UN as:The Convention on Climate Change sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. It recognizes that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.After the UNFCC came into force in 1994, COPs have been held annually around the world, the most famous being COP 3, held in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted by that conference, an agreement that provided for specific greenhouse gas emissions limits of participating countries based off of actual 1990 emissions in those countries. The US was an active participant in negotiations that established these limits.
In the Kyoto Protocol, countries are defined in three ways: Annex I, Annex II, and Developing Countries. In short, Annex I countries are industrialized countries, Annex II countries are a subset of Annex I, members of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), and help pay the costs for developing nations to come into emissions compliance according to the Protocol.
The Kyoto Protocol established mechanisms to limit emissions by country and was originally planned to be in effective from 2008-2012, with a new protocol expected to established to succeed Kyoto. The program was progressing well until George W. Bush killed the US' participation in March 2001, announcing that he would not submit it to the Senate for ratification. The US has been a mere observer in the ensuing COPs. President Obama has signalled a change to that policy by pushing climate change and energy policy on Capitol Hill and announcing that he will personally attend COP 15 himself.
We lost a valuable 8 years in fighting pollution of our air and water during the Bush administration, and actually went backwards in many areas. The Obama administration intends to change those policies, but there is a long way to go.
We'll talk more about COP 15, Kyoto, UNFCCC, and climate change legislation in coming days.
I thought we already gave away our freedoms. At least that is what Dick Morris said last spring.
http://www.breitbart.tv/dick-morris-us-cedes-economic-independence-to-imf/
Can he do that???? I'd better check my U.S. Constitution QRG and International Time Zone chart.
OTOH, I am a big Marx fan.....Groucho, Chico, Harpo......
Isn't this the conference at which Lord Monckton claims President Obama will sign away all of our Constitutional rights and create a Marxist World Government?
http://thepostnemail.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/lord-monckton-copenhagen-treaty-will-establish-marxist-world-government/
jefe thanks for a most informative post about the COP15, mainly covered by "news" outlets of fox and their distorted perspective. my nephew is in japan for study abroad and recently visited kyoto - i joked on fb with him to go and sign the treaty while he was there and he did not know anything about it. he's linked to the hurricane so will get this post, so shout out to daniel from aunt deb:) ps poor kid, visited memorial at hiroshima, posted about his emotions and passion against destruction of war. only to be shot down by the tea party branch of our family and flamed by complete strangers! and i thought i put up with a lot. thanks again jefe, and thanks for the hurricane.