SOS Clinton At DC Climate Conference: "Facts On The Ground Are Outstripping Worst-Case Scenario"

[hatrack]

The Obama administration issued a mea culpa today on America's role in causing climate change, in a move to get the major economies working together on a global warming treaty. The admission by Hillary Clinton at a two-day meeting of the world's biggest polluters was intended to ease some of the obstacles towards a deal at UN talks in Copenhagen in December. She placed the gathering of officials from 17 countries, the European Union and the United Nations on a par with the G20 meeting on the economic crisis earlier this month.

As the secretary of state opened the meeting, the Greenpeace US executive director, Phil Radford, was arrested in his first day in the job. He and six other climbers unfurled a banner from a construction crane near the state department with a message for the environment ministers: "Stop Global Warming. Rescue the Planet." Radford called for the industrialised world to commit to deeper cuts in emissions and provide assistance to developing countries.

Clinton addressed the complaints of developing countries such as India and China that America and the EU, by demanding binding emissions cuts, want to saddle them with the burden of climate change; they argue they did not cause the problem and must prioritise growth. She said the US recognised industrialised countries bore a responsibility: "Some countries like mine are responsible for past emissions." She wanted China and India to grow their economies: "We want people to have a higher standard of living."

EDIT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/27/carbon-emissions-us

She saw climate change as the gravest problem facing the international community: "The facts on the ground are outstripping the worst case scenario models."

[valerief]

1. Yeah, but CO2 is good. It's natural.

I'm practicing to be a conservative.

[hatrack]

4. And it's not carcinogenic, either, no matter what that Liberal Media sez!!

:eyes:

[babylonsister]

2. Good. That needed to be said. Wow, she's everywhere! nt

[Captain Hilts]

3. Aint' that the truth. I'm checking under my bed right now!

[tama]

7. Hypocrit

"She wanted China and India to grow their economies" - Why? Economic Growth and stopping use of fossile energy cannot be reconciled. Economic growth is destroying the carrying capacity at increasing speed.

[Captain Hilts]

5. She seems to be Officer in Charge of Making Blunt Statements.

'Bam and Hill seem to have a bit of that good cop/bad cop thing going.

[excess_3]

6. will Secretary of Education Clinton help the public schools? n/t

[eppur_se_muova]

8. If this keeps up, other countries might start respecting the USA again.

Such a refreshing change from an administration of head-in-the-sand (or elsewhere) deniers.

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. Remarks at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/122240.htm

Remarks at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Loy Henderson Conference Room
Washington, DC
April 27, 2009

…

So this morning, I would like to underscore four main points. First, the science is unambiguous and the logic that flows from it is inescapable. Climate change is a clear and present danger to our world that demands immediate attention. Second, the United States is fully engaged and ready to lead and determined to make up for lost time, both at home and abroad. The President and his entire Administration are committed to addressing this issue and we will act.

Third, the economies represented here today have a special responsibility to pull together and work toward a successful outcome of the UN climate negotiations later in the year in Copenhagen, and I’m delighted that Denmark could join us because they are going to host this very important meeting. And the Major Economies Forum provides a vehicle to help us get prepared to be successful at that meeting.

And fourth, all of us participating today must cooperate in developing meaningful proposals to move the process forward. New policy and new technologies are needed to resolve this crisis, and they won’t materialize by themselves. They will happen because we will set forth an action plan in individual countries, in regions, and globally. It took a lot of work by a lot of people to create the problem of climate change over the last centuries. And it will take our very best efforts to counter it.

First, I want for the American audience principally, but also for international audiences, to underscore what I said here just a few weeks ago when we had the meeting of the Antarctic consultative group. Some of the countries were represented here. The science is conclusive. The evidence and impact is getting more dramatic every year. Facts on the ground are outstripping worst-case scenario models that were developed only a few years ago. Ice sheets are shrinking. Sea levels are rising. Oceans are becoming more acidic, threatening coral and other life forms. So the imperative is clear. We are called to act, and future generations will judge us as to whether we do or not.

Second, the United States is no longer absent without leave. President Obama and I and our Administration are making climate change a central focus of our foreign policy. We are, as Todd has often said, back in the game. We don’t doubt the urgency or the magnitude of the problem. This forum is not intended to divert attention from working towards solutions, but to assist us in creating those solutions. And we are moving quickly. On April 17th, in a decisive break with past policy, our Environmental Protection Agency announced its finding, that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health and welfare. This move will open the door for more robust tailpipe emission regulations.

…