Obama goes to Copenhagen - he must like the vibe

The President Has Arrived in Copenhagen [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

Perhaps while there he can sharpen his killing-capitalism skills. The Australian reports on the Hugo Chavez summit speech:

President Chavez brought the house down.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.

A standing ovation. Just thought you'd like to know. After all, this isn't just some activist with nutty ideas at a specialized, quirky side rally. It's the president of Venezuela at a global summit our president is now attending.

Following the Script [Iain Murray]

What a surprise...an agreement has been reached at Hopenchangen at the 11th hour and, guess what? It's historic!!!

Andy Revkin has the administration's description:

Today, following a multilateral meeting between President Obama, Premier Wen, Prime Minister Singh, and President Zuma a meaningful agreement was reached. Its not sufficient to combat the threat of climate change but its an important first step.

We entered this negotiation at a time when there were significant differences between countries. Developed and developing countries have now agreed to listing their national actions and commitments, a finance mechanism, to set a mitigation target of two degrees celsius and to provide information on the implementation of their actions through national communicatios, with provisions for international consultations and analysis under clearly defined guidelines.
No country is entirely satisfied with each element but this is a meaningful and historic step forward and a foundation from which to make further progress.

We thank the emerging economies for their voluntary actions and especially appreciate the work and leadership of the europeans in this effort.

Emphases added. The future of climate change summits is assured.

BTW, here's what I said would happen on Dec. 30, 2008.


Churchillian on the Climate [Rich Lowry]

What happened to Obama's famous nuance? His subtlety? His Burkean grace notes? His Niebuhrian distrust of glib certitudes? None were on display today in Copenhagen, where he gave a stirring call to arms to fight climate change—on the seas and oceans and on the beaches, and in the fields and in the streets, as it were. Obama wanted "bold and decisive" action, to fight a "grave and growing" danger. He was impatient with mere talk—he wanted action. He used the word "must" several times and in contrast to his warnings to our enemies, actually seemed to mean it. So where did all of Obama's famous complexity go? He saves that mostly for things he's ambivalent or doesn't care much about (usually in the area of national security) or for occasions when he needs to obfuscate (the Philadelphia race speech). When it's something that truly moves him—like massive new spending programs, or a sprawling, government-heavy revamp of health care, or new government intrusion into every aspect of the economy in the name of fighting climate change—then he's positively Churchillian.


Krauthammer's Take From last night's Fox News All-Stars.

On the results of the Copenhagen climate-change summit:

I think Copenhagen will go the way of Kyoto, and that means nothing of importance will come out for a simple reason, the American people aren't stupid — as they said in 1999, by a vote of 97-0 in the Senate to the Clinton administration, they are saying to the Obama administration, and it's listening.

The American people will not accept an agreement where we have serious cuts in carbon emissions imposed on the United States, which will mean a serious constriction of the U.S. economy, a lowering of our standard of living, if the Chinese (who are the largest CO2 polluters on the planet) and the Indians ... do not accept limits, as they will not, because the result of that is (a) there is no effect on warming — whatever coal plant America shuts down, the Chinese and Indians are going to open [another] and so there will be no effect on the climate – and (b) it will, in effect, be a huge transfer of wealth and jobs out of the West, out of the American economy, into China and India.

Adding on to that is the Clinton proposal of a fund of $100 billion a year of which America will ultimately contribute probably a third — it always does in these international agreements — from our treasury, our money from taxpayers, directly into the treasuries of the poorer countries, the majority of whom are kleptocracies, and some of whom like China and India are lenders.

It makes absolutely no sense, and Americans are simply not going to accept that, which is why nothing of importance will we sign out there. . . .

It's the same story that happened in the late '90s. If the Chinese and Indians and the others who are developing will not match our cuts, it makes no sense economically or even scientifically — [it] will have no effect on the climate, even if you accept all of the climate science and global warming as a reality.
So it has no [climactic] effect and it is [just] a transfer of wealth. It will never be accepted.

And the Chinese were clear today — they are not interested in arresting their own development on which the legitimacy of the regime depends. It is a dictatorship. It depends on a prosperous nation to stay in power. It is not going to jeopardize that in the name of the speculative warming claims, and if it doesn't, nothing is going to happen.