‘This is not fiction,

this is science.’

-- President Obama, battling global warming in snowy Denmark.
-- AFP photo

* * *

  In praise of the great Karl Marx

“One could say, Mr. President, that a ghost is haunting Copenhagen, to paraphrase Karl Marx, the great Karl Marx, a ghost is haunting the streets of Copenhagen, and I think that ghost walks silently through this room, walking around among us, through the halls, out below, it rises, this ghost is a terrible ghost almost nobody wants to mention it: Capitalism is the ghost, almost nobody wants to mention it. It’s capitalism, the people roar, out there, hear them.” -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, to applause in the Copenhagen conference’s main hall

* * *
 

Move along, nothing to see here

U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Chairman Rajendra Pachauri -- AP photo

“Pachauri said that the senators had a right to request additional investigation but warned that it could cost them at the polls. ‘I hope the constituencies which have elected them will respond in a matter that democracies are able to,’ he said. The IPCC is looking into the stolen emails. Additional investigation, said Pachauri, is unnecessary.” -- The Politico

* * *

Darth lightens up

“A protester dressed as Darth Vader from the Star Wars movies takes part in an evening demonstration outside the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 in Copenhagen…” -- Reuters photo

* * *

‘It can get a little silly’

“…Break here while I stick my head outside the door of the filing centre to see what a ruckus is about. It’s just another mini-march through the hall, maybe fifty people chanting a particularly clunky slogan: ‘Don’t! Kill! Kyoto! Climate Justice now!’ Today, Avaaz continues its admirably goofy run with aliens wandering around with the slogans ‘Where are you climate leaders?’ and ‘Are you a climate leader?’ The other day, a ‘Useless Magician’ from Friends of the Earth tried and failed to make an airplane and its emissions disappear with ‘the magical power’ of carbon offsets. After three failed attempts, he was forced to admit that carbon offsets were the worst magic trick of all time. It can get a little silly, though. Yesterday a group of Bolivians held an ‘indigenous ritual for Mother Earth,’ in which they pushed the notion of the globe itself having its own rights. (I didn’t make it, alas.) An oddball Brazilian NGO called Stop the Destruction of the World is pushing what it calls ‘disinverted metaphysics’. And this is not even to speak of the weirdos outside…. -- The Economist

* * *

UN: Is $100 billion a year from U.S. enough?

“Shortly after Ms. Clinton’s announcement, Yvo de Boer, the head of the United Nations climate office, …sounded some cautious notes, saying that it was important to wait and see ‘if that sum is adequate’ in the view of other nations, and he called on the Americans to put a specific amount of money on the table for the fund.” -- The New York Times

* * *

 Christmas Comes to Copenhagen 

"COPENHAGEN (Dow Jones)---U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday proposed the major economies including the U.S. come up with $100 billion a year over the next decade for developing nations, in an eleventh-hour effort to break the impasse on climate change talks. Arriving hours earlier in Copenhagen, Clinton said the plan -- which entails significantly higher financial commitments than the U.S. has previously made to developing nations -- would involve public and private money."

“In a moment that distilled the diplomatic dance in Copenhagen, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi -- who is representing all of Africa here -- …said he would accept $30 billion a year in the short term, rising to $100 billion a year by 2020, for poor countries worldwide.” -- The Washington Post

* * *

‘The rich are destroying the planet’
-- “Hugo Chávez, the socialist president of Venezuela…”
as quoted in The New York Times

* * *

Climate conferees stumped as meeting lumbers into final days
-- Reuters /Bob Strong photo

* * *

‘People's summit sets climate counter-plan’

“…Naomi Klein, author of No Logo and The Shock Doctrine, addressed the forum’s 1000-strong opening meeting. She said “the polluter pays” principal must be at the heart of any meaningful emissions reduction deal. Cuban biologist and activist Roberto Perez hosted a workshop of more than 100 people on Cuba’s organic agricultural and urban garden system. A session on “Capitalism and the Climate Crisis: Left Alternatives”, attended by several hundred people mostly from the European left, revealed a consensus among those present about the need to actively combat the false market-based solutions to climate change. Ian Terry, a British employee of wind turbine manufacturer Vestas (occupied by its workers in mid-2009 after it was closed) and a Socialist Workers Party member, spoke of ‘the need for the workers’ movement to relate to environment sentiment’ and vice versa. Discussion was mostly limited to how to advance the immediate demands of the radical climate justice movement. Socialist solutions — the need for radical economic and social restructuring to achieve a shift to a carbon-free society while pushing for real social justice and preserving workers' rights — were briefly touched upon….” -- Greenleft.org

* * *

Messin’ with Greenpeace

* * *

Saving Brussels

Polar Bear Demonstrator: “Save the world!”
Reporter: “Why are you here?”
Bear: “I’m here to save the climate. Save me and my home. Because my home is dying, and I’m dying.”
Reporter: “And where are you from?”
Bear: “I’m from Belgium.”

-- Video by The (London) Guardian

* * *

‘The Animals Rise Up’

“Some came dressed like pigs and dairy cows. Others carried giant papier-mâché fruits and vegetables on sticks. …Organized under the slogan “Resistance Is Ripe,” they contended that agricultural issues were being overlooked or mishandled by the government delegates gathered at the Bella Center. Surrounded by dozens of police officers in vans, on horseback and on foot, the motley assemblage of cows, pigs, clowns, foods and a brown elephant on wheels — its exact meaning was never quite made clear — sallied through the streets as protesters gave speeches by loudspeaker, played reggae music and banged on drums. … ‘Free the 21st-century slaves!’ read a banner depicting a cow…” -- The New York Times; graphic by climate-justice-action.org

* * *
 

 Paging Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, Doctor Jones… 

“To a chorus of boos, a man dressed as a polar bear entered Copenhagen's main conference center Tuesday and began paging the discredited climate scientist whose hacked e-mails sparked the Climate-Gate scandal. Using a megaphone to pierce the rumble of hundreds gathered inside the Bella Center, which is hosting the city's global climate summit, the polar bear boomed out: ‘PHIL JONES??? HAS ANYONE SEEN PHIL JONES???’ Jones, who stepped down from his leading academic post amid swirling scandal earlier this month, has reportedly skipped the climate conference entirely.” -- Fox News

* * *

One of many bears attending the conference takes a short hibernation.

                               -- Reuters photo

* * *

A parable for our dark times: ‘The story of the Angry Mermaid’

“Copenhagen’s iconic mermaid statue is angry. Her city is hosting crucial international climate talks, but thousands of business representatives are planning to attend – and most of them do not want to tackle climate change. Instead they’re pushing for supposed solutions which mean they can carry on polluting as usual. …The Angry Mermaid was so incensed, she decided that the corporate culprits must be stopped. But which ones to blame? Everywhere she turned, there were sharp-suited businessmen lobbying government ministers and negotiators – sometimes sitting at the same table, sharing lunches, drinking fine wines. The business suits seemed to be pretending that they had forgotten about profits and that they were ready to save the world…” -- Attac Denmark, Corporate Europe Observatory, Focus on the Global South, Friends of the Earth International and Spinwatch; Image by Polyp

* * *

Molecules on the march

Copenhagen summit gives legs to reports of growing man-made emissions. -- AFP photo

* * *

“Liberation and freedom from global capitalist exploitation is at hand.”
-- Rev. Terryl Todd, writing in Al Gore’s Repower America blog

* * *

‘Left Out in the Cold at the Climate Talks’

“COPENHAGEN — With the temperature below zero and a light snow falling, it was easy to feel jealous of the protesters in chicken suits. At least they were warm.” -- The New York Times

* * *

An inconvenient truth

“In his speech, Mr Gore told the conference: ‘These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr [Wieslav] Maslowski that there is a 75 per cent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years.’ However, the climatologist whose work Mr Gore was relying upon dropped the former Vice-President in the water with an icy blast. ‘It’s unclear to me how this figure was arrived at,’ Dr Maslowski said. ‘I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this.’” -- The Times of London

* * *

How knowledge brings insanity

…Death by suicide may also increase above a certain temperature threshold. …Urbanisation, a phenomenon which will be partially beneficial, for example by increasing opportunities for work and better access to health services, is associated with an increased incidence of schizophrenia in developed countries. …The knowledge of man-made climate change could in itself have adverse effects on individual psychological well-being. -- Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week; Psychological Medicine

* * *

Innocence lost

“…As if climate change weren't enough of a problem, the koala is struggling with habitat loss and the sexually transmitted disease Clamydia, which causes blindness, pneumonia and reproductive infections.” -- Australian Associated Press

* * *

Step right up
“Energy Secretary Steven Chu…and the other Obama officials are giving their public presentations at a high-tech U.S. pavilion that is equipped with a giant interactive globe -- created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- that shows animated images of melting glaciers and red-hot continents. There is also free coffee.” -- Greenwire

* * *
 

“BLA BLA BLA…ACT NOW!” Global warming sets hearts afire in Copenhagen
-- Getty Images

* * *

‘Copenhagen, the Woodstock of our times’

“Copenhagen: The ear-biting 1-degree-Celsius chill did not dim the enthusiasm of the beaming Japanese campaigners handing out vegan sandwiches to the thousands pouring out of the Bella Convention Centre and heading for its modest metro station on Saturday night. ‘Please, have,’ the Japanese said, as other groups sang, danced and staged skits. …Next to the Japanese, decidedly more aggressive Dutch anti-meat campaigners taunted grey-haired executives who refused to accept their leaflets. ‘Old men can’t read, eh?’ one bear of a man hollered, flinging a leaflet at them. -- liveMINT.com & The Wall Street Journal

* * *

Wait, wait… don’t do that!

“So, all the world’s leading scientists flew to Copenhagen this week, all except Al Gore who, having read his own press, tragically attempted to get there by walking on water from Sweden.” -- Host Peter Sagal on NPR’s comedy-news quiz show, “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!”

UPDATE (Whew!):

“COPENHAGEN —…Al Gore arrived to a rock star’s welcome in Copenhagen today. If Copenhagen is the enviros' Woodstock, then Gore is The Who, the Grateful Dead and Creedence Clearwater Revival as a one-man band. The former vice president drew such a big crowd that security had to shut down access, with hundreds of unhappy activists left outside. …The former vice president has scrapped a $1,200-a-head fundraiser for 3,000 guests scheduled for later in the week, to the dismay of Danish organizers.” --The Politico

* * *

“I hope the only question we will leave for leaders is how to pronounce Copenhagen.”
-- Su Wei, China’s top climate negotiator, quoted in The (London) Guardian

* * *

To serve man

-- Reuters, Getty Images photos

* * *

‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse descend on Copenhagen’

‘The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse rode through downtown Copenhagen today to remind world leaders of the consequences of inaction on climate change. I know this sounds especially dour, whereas I think we all like to keep a positive attitude and believe that we can get through to world leaders and impress upon them the urgency of the moment we find ourselves living in, thereby inspiring them to act. …Famine, Pestilence, War, and Death are especially good harbingers of the future we will face should we fail to keep global temperature rise below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius), as these are all likely impacts of runaway climate change.” -- “mikeq,” writing for Greenpeace;
(Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
 

Saving the planet is a dirty business