Tony Blair: Kyoto is Dead
I honestly don't read too much from James Pinkerton. I bought into the Pinkerton hype when he was in the Bush 41 admin. He eventually resigned in a huff frustrated at the lack of vision at the White House. Pinkerton was soon here and there touting the "New Paradigm," his vision for the future. Then he was given a big advance to write about it and the result, What Comes Next: The End of Big Government-And the New Paradigm Ahead was the most mind-numbing turgid book ever written. Just out of fear of suffering flashbacks I normally skip anything with his byline...well I'm glad I didn't today. He reports that Tony Blair has seen the light (powered by fossil fuels) and realized that Kyoto is never going to work. No one is going to be willing to slash growth to meet Kyoto requirements especially when the powers of tomorrow, China and India, aren't even covered in Kyoto. Blair went on to outline his vision for combatting global warming. It may be underwhelming but it is realistic, which is what we need. Pinkerton also reports that the White House (Condi) is envious of France at least once it comes to its use of nuke power. This is nice, honest and the direction to go...now if we could just get past that whole NIMBY thing.
posted by theCardinal @ 5:28 PM
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Trackback to Interactive Hansard:
The British Prime Minister has changed his thinking on Kyoto, it was reported yesterday. Tony Blair said: "No country is going to cut its growth."
"What countries will do is work together to develop the science and technology….There is no way that we are going to tackle this problem unless we develop the science and technology to do it." And "How do we move forward, post-Kyoto [agreement ends 2012]? It can only be done by the major players coming together and pooling their resources, to find their way to come together." Link
The UK economy will of course benefit as more fetters are removed. As will the EU - the UK is currently president of the European Union.
This is Christa, I'm having problems logging in...
I thought the UK didn't like the EU. I didn't even think they were part of it. Is that true?
"I thought the UK didn't like the EU. I didn't even think they were part of it. Is that true?"
One problem with international political alliances is that every member nation wants to pursue its own foreign policy. The serious disagreements that result are evident in groupings such as the European Union and NATO - let alone the United Nations. Another problem is that national foreign policy can change with the party in power in the nation; this is evident in the next posting on this site re the coming elections in Germany:
"Ahead of tomorrow's election, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democratic Party has put up campaign posters featuring images of dead American soldiers in flag-draped coffins, reviving the anti-Iraq war message that helped the party stay in power three years ago."
The UK is a member of the EU but has opted out of the Euro. Actually the UK currently holds the six month rotating presidency.
http://www.eu2005.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1079980257734
Political support is falling for the thinking behind Kyoto.
The Oil Drum reports:
"A recent poll by the Pew Center of 1,523 Americans, conducted Sept. 8-11 shows that when given a choice between protecting the environment OR developing new sources of energy, 57% of Americans choose energy in September 2005 versus 49% in March 2005, while protecting the environment has declined from 42% to 36%. The recent run-up in energy prices, particularly at the pump has caused many Americans to support new energy projects, despite the potential for environmental damage. The percentage of Americans favoring drilling in ANWR has increased from 42% to 50%, with the strongest increases coming from Democrats and Independents."
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