The Copenhagen climate summit got off to a big start on December 7th with many meetings and opening statements. Here is the COP 15 opening press briefing:

“COP 15 President Connie Hedegaard and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer held a joint press conference on the opening day of the meeting.

Ms. Hedegaard spoke of an unprecedented political will to reach an agreement. With 110 Heads of State confirmed as attending the conference, she said there is a huge pressure on everyone to deliver not just a deal, but an ambitious deal in Copenhagen.  She emphasized the urgent need for such a deal to be reached here in Copenhagen, saying that we cannot send 110 Heads of State home to tell their populations that we couldnt make it.

Yvo de Boer stated that countries in the conference room this morning made clear their desire to deliver a strong and ambitious outcome in Copenhagen. I believe the conference will write history, but we must make sure it writes the right history, he said.  He underlined the need for ambitious commitments to cut and limit emissions, for immediate funding and for prompt action on the ground.”

See below for a strong message on the agreement NASA Scientist James Hansen is expecting from Copenhagen and how it needs to be improved.

A message from climate scientist James Hansen on December 7th:

“I published an op-ed in today’s New York Times on the deadly cap-and-trade fiasco (”Cap and Fade“) that conniving governments are attempting to foist on us to the detriment of our children and grandchildren. Their scheme, hatched in collaboration with Wall Street big banks, is a reprise of the Kyoto Protocol. Global emissions after Kyoto actually increased more rapidly (in real terms, percentage terms, and exponential rate of growth) than before. Even those few countries that reduced their emissions (and few did after “offsets” are eliminated) did so by exporting their emissions (and jobs) to developing countries (to make products exported to the developed countries). “

Sack Goldman Sachs Cap-and-Trade

The revolving door between Washington and Wall Street has produced a new scheme to fleece the public. “Cap-and-trade” is the heart of the Obama Administration’s plan to slow global warming and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Permits to emit a “capped” amount of carbon dioxide will be traded on Wall Street by big-time players like Goldman Sachs.

Cap-and-trade was anointed hero status for helping reduce pollution from power plants, specifically acid rain from the sulfur in coal. Seldom have accolades been less deserved. Indeed, this “success” story is a case of calling black white.

Here, in essence, is how it worked. Congress passed a law, Title IV of the Clean Air Act, capping sulfur emissions from power plants at 50 percent of 1990 amounts. Utilities reducing emissions more than half could sell excess reductions to other utilities, which then did not need to reduce pollution. Physical changes were simple. Many power plants switched to [...]