Kyoto News Blog

Telling the truth with imprudent words

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 16:23:28 +0000

Blessed are the politicians who mean what they say and say what they mean.

Former President Jimmy Carter said of President George W. Bush that he was "the worst president in American history," or was it "among the worst president ever," or was it "the worst American president, ever, in the field of world affairs?" Regardless of his precise words, Carter did not spew out lukewarm or hard-to-understand words. I'm confident he said what he meant and he meant what he said. (And of course he was right when he said it).

And when Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., compared the treatment of detainees at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Nazis, Soviet gulags and Cambodia's Pol Pot, he meant what he said and said what he meant. And I understood him despite his later recantation.

Gov.'s climate change speech is a hit

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 16:23:28 +0000

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger received a standing ovation Saturday at a national meeting of mayors in Century City when he encouraged local governments to take the lead in combating climate change.

"I was so happy and so delighted when I found out that you've made climate change No. 1 on your 10-point plan to strengthen the nation," he told the crowd in the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza ballroom.

The governor, who wore a light-green tie as if to emphasize his environmental message, praised Mayor Michael Bloomberg's initiative to replace New York's fleet of gasoline-powered taxicabs with hybrids and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's bid to reduce the Department of Water and Power's reliance on coal-burning power plants for energy.

Plenty of reasons to defend our president's policies

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 16:23:28 +0000

Someone once said that we are entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts. So, please bear with me while I use a little of both to try to answer a recent letter writer's questions ("President's actions fall short on many accounts," The Reporter, June 15).

First question: Why hasn't President Bush signed onto the Kyoto Protocol? Maybe because it would cost the United States $160 billion for very little measurable benefit (Copenhagen Consensus). Maybe he recalled that in 1997, under Clinton/Gore, the Senate passed a resolution (Byrd-Hagel), 95-0, rejecting approval of the Kyoto Treaty, objecting mainly to the lack of any "specific scheduled commitments" on the part of China and India, the second- and fourth-most-powerful economies in the world. As ...

Second question: Are gas prices holding steady or dropping because Advertisementthe oil industry is pumping millions of dollars into political favors? It may be true in part, but I have read that there is an abundance of crude oil and not enough refining capabilities. Even Saudi Arabia outsources its refining processes. The United States hasn't built a refinery in 30 years, and those that we do have are shut down periodically for repairs, which may affect the supply. And then there are always th...

Asian nations warned against complacency

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 16:23:28 +0000

SINGAPORE --Asian economies may have overcome the 1997-98 financial crisis but now face new threats such as income disparity, climate change and a possible global economic meltdown, government and business leaders said Sunday.

"A shock will come at some point," Singapore Second Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam warned attendees at the World Economic Forum on East Asia.

"I think emerging markets have to brace themselves to put into place shock absorbers to deal with this sort of event ... it requires astute management," he said.

Barbara Bova: Kyoto treaty and gas leaf blowers don't jibe

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 08:58:07 +0000

Paradise. That?s what we people in southwest Florida keep saying as we enjoy the sunny days, the warm winters and the Gulf waters. We may keep referring to Paradise, but that just isn?t the way it is anymore. If silence is golden then you?ll find very little gold here. For there?s no quiet and gentle spot to be found on any certain day except perhaps, Sunday, where you get a chance to hear the birds singing and the waves gently lapping against the shore.

When my husband and I came here many years ago we certainly thought we had found Paradise. But that was before the advent of perfect lawns and landscaping everywhere. The changes came slowly at first, then at breakneck speed. Now Paradise is an earsplitting place to live in. Every morning I go for my walk and wonder at all the machinery buzzing, screeching and sawing. There?s not a day that goes by without these ugly sounds drowning out my thoughts and agitating me. As far as I?m concerned, I would do away with anything that has a motor attached and go back to the good old days.

Since that?s impossible, then I vote to outlaw, at the very least, the leaf blower. This is a machine that pollutes the air and is totally useless and silly. Who hasn?t seen somebody blowing the dust and dirt to one side of the street only to watch the wind come along and blow it right back? What a waste of energy. Blowers disturb the bugs, making them angry and inclined to bite any human part they can reach. It?s irritating to the psyche and not at all good for the ear. Anyone with allergies can be affected by the particles it blows into the air.

Ethanol, algae vie for gasoline substitute

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 08:58:07 +0000

The environmental battle between ethanol and algae -- for an alternative motor fuel -- is hotting up.

Ethanol is clean burning, thus a favorite with environuts. Former senator Al Gore claims it for his own, per the Kyoto "understanding."

This so-called "natural" fuel for internal combustion engines is composed of fermented starch from plants. It doesn't spew carbon dioxide as gasoline does.

In shadow of climate debate

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 08:58:07 +0000

Climate change is suddenly a priority. Earlier this month, President Bush called for a new 15-nation initiative to cut greenhouse gases after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 and joined other leaders at the G8 summit to place action on climate change prominently among the most important issues facing world economies. At last count, Congress was debating twelve 12 climate bills. The Supreme Court decided in April that the Environmental Protection Agency must treat carbon dioxide as an air pollu...

These actions signal policy decisions with potentially tremendous financial impact. The estimated cost of just stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions, as some in Congress propose, is about $30 billion annually, provided the most cost-effective cap and trade program or a fiscally neutral carbon tax (that rebates some income tax at the same time) is put in place. Less cost-effective approaches ratchet the price tag even higher.

Will it be worth it?

China: Don't criticize pollution while buying our products

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 08:58:07 +0000

BEIJING - Developed countries are hypocritical for criticizing China’s

greenhouse gas emissions while buying products from its booming manufacturing industry,

Beijing said this week.

BUSD Approves, with Regret, Reversal of Military Recruiter Policy

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 15:59:28 +0000

Using language that expressed reluctance, the Berkeley Board of Education unanimously approved a policy reversal to release student information to the military for recruitment to be eligible for federal education grants.

The third paragraph of the new policy reads: ?Unfortunately, according to Federal law, military recruiters shall have access to a student?s name, address, and telephone number, unless the eleventh or twelfth grade student or parent/guardian has specified that the information not be released in accordance with law and administrative regulation.?

?This is not a policy anyone is jumping up and down for,? said board president Joaquin Rivera. ?We fought as hard as we could and in the end we were threatened to do it.?

Will The UN Rule The Waves?

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 15:59:28 +0000

A commentary by J. F. Kelly, Jr.In the inherent conflict between the forces of globalism and national sovereignty, the United Nations, on the one hand, seeks to establish its position as a world government organization while the world's only remaining superpower, on the other, struggles to preserve its autonomy. And why not? The United States has relatively little to gain and much to lose by surrendering its sovereign rights except, perhaps, the good will of those advocates of world governm...

Police oversight panel defends its work

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 08:17:28 +0000

He sits in the restored 1912 farmhouse -- the one featured in a magazine, damaged in a windstorm and slated to be Next. By contrast, Now rests on the table in front of him, stuffed in six, 4-inch-thick binders stacked in a neat block.

He'll get back to it this afternoon, after lunch with his son and the pleasant distraction of shopping for a clean, low-mileage, 1972 Chevy pickup. Talk of the pickup boosts his mood, lifting his baritone into tenor.

Briefly. The business at hand is the binders. They are both problem and solution for Peter Holmes, chairman of the Office of Professional Accountability Review Board. The hundreds of pages represent his ideal: that private citizens and police officers have a way to settle conflicts that lends credibility to both.

Your views: The buck stops here

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 08:17:28 +0000

Readers express a variety of opinions in their letters to FLORIDA TODAY.

Bush's legacy is one of failure

It is apparent that George Bush has come out of his pathological fog and has begun to worry about his uncertain legacy.

City Council monitor

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:17:51 +0000

A look at items before the Naperville City Council.

Recent decisions

Council tables discussion on the Spring Avenue Plan

OPINION: Faith should not be the deciding factor in votes

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:17:51 +0000

Over two weeks ago, watching the Republican and Democratic debates, I found myself in a nightmare. The very politicians who could lead this free country started to answer questions about their religious affiliation. I heard "God" and "Jesus Christ" more than I heard "President Bush," and this frightens me. Should one's faith matter at all to the future of this country? Would an atheist president run this country any more or less effectively than an evangelical Christian?

In 2000 then Texas governor George W. Bush made a move that would for the most part, secure his place in the oval office for the next eight years. He gave himself to the 55 million and growing evangelical Christian movement, and in return, they gave him millions of votes. Even in 2003 President Bush's track record seemed to have no effect on votes from these same voters. By 2004 George Bush would have lost nearly 4 million jobs, spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury, withdrew from the Wo...

Well it worked. Yet there is still nothing to show for Bush's presidency, from his failed attempts at education and social security reform, a lackadaisical effort toward illegal immigration, and the current Iraq war. Now I didn't just rant about my views toward our president for my amusement, but to ask an important question: "Will faith once again decide your vote in 2008?" This just doesn't boil down to the Evangelicals either, but even to the 225 million Christians who live in America today. ...

The list: Journalists who wrote political checks

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:17:51 +0000

The following 144 journalists made campaign contributions from 2004 through the first quarter of 2007, according to Federal Election Commission records studied by MSNBC.com.

(D) contributed to Democrats or liberal causes.

(R) to Republicans and conservative causes.

A green valley

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:17:51 +0000

Representatives of Napa County and its five cities agreed this week to step up local efforts to combat global warming.

Each jurisdiction will be asked to craft its own plan to reduce greenhouse gases, with the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency serving as a technical resource.

Napa has lagged behind many other Bay Area cities and counties in grappling with climate change, but no more, officials said.

China bristles over greenhouse gas criticism

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:17:51 +0000

Developed countries are hypocritical for criticizing China's greenhouse gas emissions while buying products from its booming manufacturing industry, Beijing said Thursday.

The country was seeking to defend its environmental record after a report said it had become the world's top carbon dioxide emitter.

China overtook the United States in carbon dioxide emissions by 8 percent in 2006, according to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency's report. While China was 2 percent below the U.S. in carbon dioxide emissions in 2005, voracious coal consumption and increased cement production caused the emission numbers to rise rapidly, the agency said.

China fires back over pollution criticisms

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:34:31 +0000

BEIJING, China (AP) -- Developed countries are hypocritical for criticizing China's greenhouse-gas emissions while buying products from its booming manufacturing industry, the Chinese government said.

The comments Thursday were aimed at defending the country's environmental record after a report said it had become the world's top carbon-dioxide emitter.

China overtook the United States in carbon-dioxide emissions by about 7.5 percent in 2006, according to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency's report this week. While China was 2 percent below the U.S. in carbon-dioxide emissions in 2005, voracious coal consumption and increased cement production caused the numbers to rise rapidly, the agency said.

China passes U.S. as top CO2 polluter

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:34:31 +0000

BEIJING (AP) -- China has overtaken the United States as the world's top producer of carbon dioxide emissions -- the biggest man-made contributor to global warming -- based on the latest widely accepted energy consumption data, a Dutch research group says.According to a report released Tuesday by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, China overtook the U.S. in emissions of CO2 by 8 percent in 2006. While China was 2 percent below the United States in 2005, voracious coal consumption and increased cement production caused the numbers to rise rapidly, the group said.

"It's an expression of their fast industrial production activities and their fast development," Jos G.J. Olivier, the agency's senior scientist who compiled the figures, said Wednesday. The agency is independent but paid by the Dutch government to advise it on environmental policy.The study said China, which relies on coal for two-thirds of its energy needs and makes 44 percent of the world's cement, produced 6.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2006. In comparison, the U.S., which gets...

Telephone calls to China's State Environmental Protection Agency and the National Development and Reform Commission, the Cabinet-level economic planning agency, were not answered Wednesday.Earlier figures indicated China would likely surpass the U.

Europeans should cheer Bush's conversion on climate change

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:34:31 +0000

Don't expect most Europeans or U.S. environmentalists to celebrate George W. Bush's belated conversion to the realities of climate change.

Yet, hard as it is for them to swallow, they owe Bush big-time for advancing their cause.

What he has done in past weeks, culminating with the Group of Eight summit earlier this month in Germany, is move the world past the failed Kyoto Protocol and bring the fastest-growing polluters (including China and India) into climate negotiations. In the process, he has laid the groundwork for a dramatic improvement in U.S.-European relations.

China may lead in greenhouse gases