Obama at Copenhagen
President Obama didn’t do enough at Copenhagen to meet the legitimate demands of developing nations, especially the poorest of the poor. And while he deserves credit for moving the United States back in a positive direction on global warming after eight years of the know-nothingism of George W. Bush, he has adopted some of Bush’s scolding-parent tone.
The Obama administration has its own self to blame for much of the acrimony in Copenhagen.
His administration flat-out rejected the idea of the industrialized nations paying reparations to the rest of the world for the damage they’ve inflicted on the planet.
Nor did the Obama Administration offer nearly enough to developing nations to encourage them to use non-polluting technologies. Obama promised $10 billion by the year 2012. That comes to just 0.28 percent of the U.S. budget for next year.
Then, seeming to act in a generous manner while actually behaving like a bully, he said he would “engage in a global effort to mobilize $100 billion in financing by 2020, if – and only if –it is part of a broader accord” to his liking.
As he did in Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize, in Copenhagen Obama talked about the United States doing the right thing not just because it’s right but because it’s in Washington’s “self-interest.”
In Oslo, he said rebuilding Europe, Japan, and South Korea after World War II was in the “enlightened self-interest” of Americans.
In Copenhagen, he said, “We’re convinced, for our own self-interest, that the way we use energy . . . is essential to our national security.”
Yet there comes a time when doing the right thing can’t always be squared with American selfishness. That time is now.
It was, after all, American selfishness and gluttony that polluted much of the earth. And now, American stinginess is preventing the kind of cleaning up that is necessary.
On global warming, the United States should do what is just – and not simply what is in its “self-interest.”
Washington should pay reparations to those nations that contributed least to global warming but that are suffering, and will be suffering, the most because of it. This sum should exceed the measly $10 billion Obama has offered developing nations to go green and go clean.
If Obama had made such a generous offer, he would have been greeted more favorably in Copenhagen.
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Comments
Copenhagen Negotiators Bicker and Filibuster While the Biosphere Burns, 12/18/2009
While this outcome could be predicted before the conference, it will not be tolerated. The leadership of the United States during and leading up to the conference has been despicable. Clinton's offer of climate mitigation funding to the developing world was weak and a transparent attempt to buy off their interests- without making any real commitment to emissions reduction. Even our support of REDD had the markings of corporate influence- using it as the easiest way to appear to address climate change- without actually making hard emissions cuts. Preserving forests and their diversity is very important- just not in the context of a treaty that supports monoculture, forest destruction and letting the developed world off the hook.
There is now a growing realization throughout the world that climate change and system change are intertwined. It is apparent that the current system- call it capitalism- call it the military-industrial-governmental complex- call it global capitalism- is the root cause of the problem and our collective inability to act.
The assumption that technology in and of itself will address these issues, ignores the reality that climate change is happening now and has been building for a long time. The incentives in the current global economic system are perverse- witness Canada's shameless policies on tar sand development. Our current policies do not in any way sufficiently restrict the use of dangerous fossil burning technologies and promote the use of safe renewable ones. Further there is a gross lack of understanding on the interrelationships between climate change and environmental toxicity, industrial agriculture, water depletion, etc.
However, there is one ray of hope. 100,000 people marched in Copenhagen. Young-old-developed-indigenous- together made clear statements of truth about the crisis. While climate criminals such as Obama, Harper and Jiabao escape accountability for now- their people's will not. Know this- Know it so well that it hurts- climate change will not spare the developed world- no amount of money will mitigate the crisis. China and India will not be able to feed their people. The United States economy will be wrecked. Millions more will die.
The speaking of truth by so many activists in Copenhagen is a powerful thing. The truth- more than armies- destroys corrupt regimes.
As Monbiot wrote:
"Goodbye Africa, goodbye south Asia; goodbye glaciers and sea ice, coral reefs and rainforest. It was nice knowing you. Not that we really cared. The governments which moved so swiftly to save the banks have bickered and filibustered while the biosphere burns."