Climate activist Tama Griffith at a rally outside the White House today calling on President Barack Obama to take a strong stand at the December 7-18 climate summit in Copenhagen -- as the president pushes back his appearance there from Dec. 8 to Dec. 18. (Photo by Alex Ogle / AFP / Getty Images)
by Jim Tankersley and updated 4:50 pm EST
President Barack Obama will push back his visit to the international climate change treaty negotiations in Copenhagen from the first week of the conference to its final scheduled day, a senior White House official said this afternoon.
The move comes in response to greenhouse gas emissions reduction pledges made in recent days by China and India. It will put Obama at the conference at the same time as dozens of other heads of state, and it immediately raises expectations anew for some type of climate agreement to result from the talks.
By switching his visit from Dec. 9 to Dec. 18, Obama appears to be betting that his presence can - as he has expressed hope for several times in the past - push the negotiations "over the top" toward an agreement.
This also will mean two Scandanavian journeys for the president: He will fly to Oslo for the Dec. 10 awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize and was going to pair that with his stop iin Copenhagen. Now, he will have to return to Denmark the following week.
See the White House's statement released just now:
STATEMENT FROM THE PRESS SECRETARY ON THE UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE
The President strongly believes that all nations have a responsibility to combat the threat of climate change. He has already taken unprecedented action to do so at home, including an historic investment in clean energy solutions that will reduce our dependence on oil and create jobs. Abroad, he has engaged leaders bilaterally and multilaterally on the issue of climate change, and agreed to participate in the climate conference in Copenhagen.
After months of diplomatic activity, there is progress being made towards a meaningful Copenhagen accord in which all countries pledge to take action against the global threat of climate change. Following bilateral meetings with the President and since the United States announced an emissions reduction target that reflects the progress being made in Congress towards comprehensive energy legislation, China and India have for the first time set targets to reduce their carbon intensity. There has also been progress in advancing the Danish proposal for an immediate, operational accord that covers all of the issues under negotiation, including the endorsement of key elements of this approach by the 53 countries represented at the Commonwealth Summit last weekend.
This week, the President discussed the status of the negotiations with Prime Minister Rudd, Chancellor Merkel, President Sarkozy, and Prime Minister Brown and concluded that there appears to be an emerging consensus that a core element of the Copenhagen accord should be to mobilize $10 billion a year by 2012 to support adaptation and mitigation in developing countries, particularly the most vulnerable and least developed countries that could be destabilized by the impacts of climate change. The United States will pay its fair share of that amount and other countries will make substantial commitments as well. In Copenhagen, we also need to address the need for financing in the longer term to support adaptation and mitigation in developing countries. Providing this assistance is not only a humanitarian imperative - it's an investment in our common security, as no climate change accord can succeed if it does not help all countries reduce their emissions.
Based on his conversations with other leaders and the progress that has already been made to give momentum to negotiations, the President believes that continued US leadership can be most productive through his participation at the end of the Copenhagen conference on December 18th rather than on December 9th. There are still outstanding issues that must be negotiated for an agreement to be reached, but this decision reflects the President's commitment to doing all that he can to pursue a positive outcome. The United States will have representation in Copenhagen throughout the negotiating process by State Department negotiators and Cabinet officials who will highlight the great strides we have made this year towards a clean energy economy.
Comments
The "carbon footprint" for this Copenhagen photo-op has already been estimated by the UN to equal the footprint for Morocco for a whole year.
"The U.N. estimates the 12-day conference will create 40,584 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, roughly the same amount as the carbon emissions of Morocco in 2006."
Plus who knows how many tens of millions of tax dollars flushed down the rathole, so that the Teleprompter-reader can pose for some more photos.
Posted by: Speaking Truth to Power | December 4, 2009 4:54 PM
Worst president ever
Posted by: Comic book guy | December 4, 2009 5:26 PM
You Betcha! 'Cause we all knew that God would find a way to hack a bunch of e-mails, take them out of context and use them to prove beyond a shadaw of a doubt that global warming is a myth, don't ya know. also.
Posted by: Sarah Moose-Huntress | December 4, 2009 5:49 PM
Have you heard aboutthe emails that Rush was talking about?
The emails prove that the ice isn't really melting. Those ships that you saw in the news crossing the Arctic in the summer were actually photoshopped, according to one of the emails. As were the satellite photos that show the ice receding. All the people who work with the agencies that run the satellites and process the pictures are in on it. That's all in the emails.
Also the glaciers that you hear are melting, the emails show this is a big scam. What they did was set up a distortion field around the area, and when you go look at the glaciers, the field distorts your vision and makes it look like the ice is going away, when really there is more ice than ever.
And the storms and floods? Those are in newspapers. So obviously the liberals are behind this. Don't believe it. It isn't happening.
The ice isn't melting. Greenland has more ice than it ever had. Those pictures and videos of water running from the melting ice -- the emails talk about how they are piping water in from other place to make it look like there is water coming from melting ice, but there isn't. It's all just a trick to make you think that what you are seeing in front of your eyes is real.
/
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/science/earth/21climate.html
Posted by: B Mobbie | December 4, 2009 5:56 PM
The Wingnutters in America will still be claiming global warming and climate change are a myth when they're standing knee deep in water ten, miles inland.
"Bringing that water inland was part of a renewal project, people there wanted to be on the coast so the ocean was brought inland for them. Global Warming had nothing to do with it. It also had nothing to do with making Nebraska into a desert, the farmers just got tired of farming and brought Arizona to them so they could retire."
(This message brought to you by the Republican party of the future, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Exxon Mobile)
Posted by: over do it and have a fit | December 4, 2009 6:06 PM
I was arguing with a right-winger the other day about the hacked e-mail "scandal" that supposedly "disproves" global warming as a hoax. All he could do was produce some shaky evidence from one scientist that suggested he might have used poor methodology in presenting his results. I made the point that 5,000 hacked e-mails means 5,000 e-mails were hacked -- it doesn't mean 5,000 e-mails showed evidence of impropriety or tampering.
Posted by: MikeinMA | December 4, 2009 6:13 PM
This ought to keep the global warming kool-aid drinkers busy.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/12/04/2009-12-04_prostitutes_offer_free_sex_to_globalwarming_summit_delegates_in_copenhagen.html
Posted by: Terry | December 4, 2009 7:18 PM
Yes, fly to Scandanavia twice within 10 days. Waste the taxpayer's money some more. And, of course, all these trips are so kind to the environment, aren't they?
Posted by: John D, still right, as usual | December 4, 2009 7:31 PM
MikeinMA,
So if you had to make the investment into a green economy with YOUR money, and no their is evidence that the data you are going to make this investment based upon was possibly tampered with, would you want an investigation or would you invest YOUR money?
BTW - How long has global warming been going on?
Posted by: Terry | December 4, 2009 10:20 PM
I want us to follow the girl in the photo with the green hat. She really looks like she knows how to run a country, a government, a planet. Let's make her empress of the world, dude.
Posted by: Free to Watch Whatever I Want | December 5, 2009 1:58 AM
There is a method that real scientists use to "do scientific research." It involves a method of record keeping so that IF you discover something you can reproduce it, not only you but any other scientist using the same method will have the same results. And you can prove your research, etc. Well, when you fundamentally violate that VERY BASIC rule of scientific research, your research is NO LONGER SCIENCE. NO LONGER SCIENCE. GET IT, NO LONGER SCIENCE. When you throw away your data, no one can check your work, AND YOU ARE NO LONGER A SCIENTIST. That's what these guys did. They threw away their data, no scientist would ever do that, ever.
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/dec/04/the-great-global-warming-scam/
"For any scientific theory to move into the arena of scientific fact, the experiments that prove it out must be repeatable over and over again. That is a fundamental element of science.
Other scientists must be able to see the raw data from these experiments and conduct their own experiments to see if they get the same results. We still conduct experiments today that have been conducted for many years and get the same results. That is what makes it science."
So, the only thing these clowns have proven is that they are not scientists. Believe me, NO ONE in the scientific community will take them seriously. Global warming is dead.
Posted by: Free to Watch Whatever I Want | December 5, 2009 2:15 AM
AGW via CO2 is dead. It has been a hoax to support the socialist agenda of global governance and wealth redistribution from modern industrialized nations and in the process destroying their economies.
Climategate has caused the scammer...I mean scientists to be revealed for what they are:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/climategate/
Posted by: FLZapped | December 5, 2009 9:37 AM
John,
Sometimes you have to do something that may be slightly counterproductive to reach your goal. By your logic, I should stop spending money to commute to work.
Posted by: martin | December 5, 2009 10:00 AM
Wow! Read this one. It is really good. And this gentleman says it just like it is.
This venerable and much honored WW II vet is well known in Hawaii
for his seventy-plus years of service to patriotic organizations and causes all over the country. A humble man without a political bone in his body, he has never spoken out before about a government official, until now. He dictated this letter to a friend, signed it and mailed it to the president. Consult : http://xrl.us/bgeewc
Posted by: Jerome Raviv | December 6, 2009 2:38 AM
Why is it that many Republicans do not seem to care about being good stewards of our great earth by
keeping our streams, lakes and air
CLEAN of pollution?
The argument about climate change
is insignificant and not the point.
What matters is keeping pollution at bay for us and future generations.
Posted by: Janie | December 6, 2009 5:04 PM
Posted by: Janie | December 6, 2009 5:04 PM
Why is it that many Republicans do not seem to care about being good stewards of our great earth by
keeping our streams, lakes and air
CLEAN of pollution?
The argument about climate change
is insignificant and not the point.
What matters is keeping pollution at bay for us and future generations.
______________________________
Look at our water ways and air in the 60 and 70s, now look at them today. A lot better!! Yes we can and will do more but, like before we do not need the UN to tell us how to do it. And in my view just keeping it at bay is sale-in ourselves short we need to do better then that.
Posted by: Crooks_In_DC | December 6, 2009 8:01 PM
Dear Nobel Laureate and President Barack Obama,
Please save the world from greedy fat cats and fossil fools.
The last best chance for the children is “now-here”. Let’s hope those with power to create the colossal ecological mess that is now presented to humanity will agree to help clean the global mess up before it is too late for human interventions to make a difference. Human-induced challenges can certainly be acknowledged, addressed and overcome by human-driven action.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by: Steven Earl Salmony | December 18, 2009 7:59 AM