Archive for the ‘pollution’ Category
December 11th, 2011 | 
Author: Major outcome of Durban climate talks
www.prokerala.com12/11/11
Major outcome of Durban climate talks…The main outcome of the Durban talks:…* To extend the Kyoto Protocol: To extend for anot…* Long-Term Cooperation (LCA) actions: These are t…* Green climate fund (GCF): During the …
Durban climate change talks: a deal on hold | Environment …
www.guardian.co.uk12/10/11
Progress at the COP17 climate talks in South Africa are paused but some fear that the delay will mean they run out of time.
"A new global climate deal has been struck after being brought back from the brink of disaster by three powerful women politicians in a 20-minute, "huddle to save the planet".
Anybody that has read the Climate 2 emails knows that the whole global warming thing is simply a rip-off.
Durban
And the Durban thing is even worse, because poor (hand-out and non-producing) countries are demanding that richer (hard working countries) subsidize them much more!
Much like many countries in Europe that want Germany to continue to bail them out.
And what arrogance to believe that, "We can save the planet", which has existed for billions of years without them!
What Happened At The Conference
A major crisis was provoked shortly after 3am on Sunday (December 11, 2011) morning when angry EU delegates clashed with China and India over the legal form of a potential new treaty.
The EU plan to bind all countries to cuts was close to collapse after India inserted the words "legal outcome" at the last minute into the negotiating text.
But EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard, backed by UK energy secretary Chris Huhne said:
"It would have made the EU plan legally meaningless and would have forced the EU to walk away effectively collapsing the negotiations".
With many ministers exhausted after nearly six days and three nights of intense discussions, Hedegaard told the 194 countries in Durban:
"We need clarity. We need to commit. The EU has shown patience for many years. We are almost ready to be alone in a second commitment period to the Kyoto protocol".
"We don’t ask too much of the world that after this second period all countries will be legally bound. Let’s try and have a protocol by 2018".
The Indian environment minister, Jayanthi Natarajan, responded fiercely that:
"Developing countries are being asked to sign up to a deal before they know what was in the proposed treaty, and whether it would be fair to poor nations".
"Am I to write a blank cheque and sign away the livelihoods and sustainability of 1.2 billion Indians, without even knowing what the EU roadmap contains?".
"I wonder if this is an agenda to shift the blame on to countries who are not responsible for climate change. I am told that India will be blamed. Please don’t hold us hostage. We will give up the principle of equity".
And China’s chief negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, lambasted the EU in a passionate speech, saying:
"Who gives you the right to tell us what to do?"
The Huddle
With tempers rising and the talks minutes from being abandoned, the chair, South African foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, ordered China, India, the US, Britain, France, Sweden, Gambia, Brazil and Poland to meet in a small group or "huddle".
And surrounded by a crowd of almost 100 delegates on the floor of the hall, they talked quietly among themselves to try to reach a new form of words acceptable to all.
The Compromise
It was however, Brazil’s chief negotiator, lawyer Luis Figueres, who came up with the compromise,
"Substitute ‘an agreed outcome’, with ‘legal force for legal outcome’".
Causing a EU lawyer to respond,
"Yes, it’s much stronger; effectively meaning, a legally binding agreement".
"Yes, yes," cheered the crowd of onlookers around the politicians, and the talks were back on track.
Two hours later the 16-day talks were effectively over, with a commitment by all countries to accept binding emission cuts by 2020.
As part of the package of measures agreed, a new climate fund will be set up, carbon markets will be expanded and countries will be able to earn money by protecting forests.
The Stupidity
Chris Huhne (UK energy secretary) hailed the conclusion of the talks as,
"A triumph of European co-operation".
"We have taken a significant step forward and this will give business confidence and stop us locking in a whole generation of high-carbon technology.
And Poor Countries?
But Martin Khor, director of the intergovernmental South Centre in Geneva, said poor countries would be obliged to cut emissions proportionally more than the rich.
"It’s like the starving will be made to give up half their small amount of food but the rich just a bit".
The Rabid Ignorant And Naive Left
"Negotiators have sent a clear message to the world’s hungry: let them eat carbon", said Celine Charveriat, director of campaigns and advocacy for Oxfam.
"Governments must immediately turn their attention to raising the ambition of their emissions cuts targets and filling the Green Climate Fund. Unless countries ratchet up their emissions cuts urgently we could still be in store for a 10-year timeout on the action we need to stay under two degrees of temperature increase".
And Greenpeace International director Kumi Naidoo said:
"The chance of averting catastrophic climate change is slipping through our hands with every passing year that nations fail to agree on a rescue plan for the planet".
And Michael Jacobs, of the Grantham climate research institute of climate change:
"This will force governments to admit their current pledges to cut emissions are not enough to achieve 2C rise and will have to be strengthened".
Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International, said:
"Delaying real action till 2020 is a crime of global proportions. This means the world is on track to a 4C temperature rise, a death sentence for Africa, small island states and the poor and vulnerable worldwide. The richest 1% of the world have decided that it is acceptable to sacrifice the 99%"
The Bottom Line
The whole thing is such a rip-off, but these NGO’s would have no raison d’être without these forums; so perhaps their responses should be viewed in that light.
If their agenda is really similar to Obama’s, which is equalization (redistribution) of wealth, then at least say so, but please don’t jump on the burned out Global Warming wagon.
Posted in cap and trade, coal, energy, gas, gloabal warming, lobbyists, Oil, politics, pollution | 
1 Comment »
Top political books of 2011 – The Arena | POLITICO.COM
www.politico.com11/24/11
… of obesity, incarceration, homicide, mental illness, drug addiction, infant mortality, teenage pregnancy, illiteracy, and low rates of social mobility, trust and life expectancy. The U.S., tragically, has some of the highest rates of …
Obesity, Drug Abuse Biggest Problems in US Youth
www.inquisitr.com8/16/11
“The perception of drug abuse as a big problem matches recent national data showing increasing use of marijuana and other drugs by US teens. Meanwhile, although obesity remains atop the list of child health concerns for …
I just came across the following map and stats, and whilst I found the whole thing interesting, I wondered if it was really accurate.
So I just spent a couple of hours checking out the sources, and as far as I could see, everything is 100% accurate.
The majority of the stats were taken from either:
America’s Health Rankings
or The US Census Bureau
And if they weren’t, then an alternative source is quoted.
So Here They Are
1. Alabama: highest rate of stroke (3.8 percent) (tied with Oklahoma).
2. Alaska: highest suicide rate (23.6 suicides per 100,000 people in 2004).
3. Arizona: highest rate of alcoholism.
4. Arkansas: worst average credit score (636) – TalkBusiness
5. California: most air pollution (15.2 micrograms per cubic meter).
6. Colorado: highest rate of cocaine use per capita (3.9 percent total population).
7. Connecticut: highest rate of breast cancer – State Health Facts
8. Delaware: highest abortion rate (27 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44).
9. Florida: highest rate of identity theft (122.3 reports per 100,000 people).
10. Georgia: sickly based on highest rate of influenza.
11. Hawaii –highest cost of living (tied with California) CNBC States With The Highest Cost Of Living
12. Idaho – lowest level of Congressional clout – NewWest
13. Illinois: highest rate of robbery (284.7 incidences per 100,000 people).
14. Indiana: rated the most environmentally unfriendly by NMI solutions – Environmental Leader
15. Iowa: highest percentage of people age 85 and older (1.8 percent) (tied with three other states) StateMaster
16. Kansas: poorest health based on highest average number of limited activity days per month (3.5 days) StateMaster
17. Kentucky: most cancer deaths (227 per 100,000 people), and Kentucky also has the highest rate of tobacco smokers – 25.6 percent).
18. Louisiana: highest rate of gonorrhea (264.4 reported cases per 100,000 people) StateMaster
19. Maine: dumbest state claim based on lowest average SAT score (1389) Commonwealth Foundation
20. Maryland: highest rate of AIDS diagnosis (27.6 people per 100,000 people) Avert.org
21. Massachusetts: worst drivers claim based on highest rate of auto accidents The Auto Channel
22. Michigan: highest unemployment rate (13.6 percent).
23. Minnesota: highest number of reported tornadoes (123 in 2010) Woodbury kstp
24. Mississippi: highest rate of obesity (35.3 percent of total population).
* Mississippi ranks last in the most number of categories.
Including the highest rate of child poverty (31.9 percent), highest rate of infant mortality (10.3 percent).
Lowest median household income ($35,078).
Highest teen birth rate (71.9 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19).
And highest overall rate of STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases).
25. Missouri: highest rate of bankruptcy (700 out of every 100,000 people) BSC Alliance
26. Montana: highest rate of drunk driving deaths (1.12 deaths per 100 million miles driven) HelenAir
27. Nebraska: highest rate of women murdered annually.
28. Nevada: highest rate violent crime (702.2 offenses per 100,000 people)and Nevada also has the highest rate of foreclosure (one in 99 houses).
29. New Hampshire: highest rate of corporate taxes New Hampshire Watchdog
: the link went dead. So what’s NH bottom at? Email me!
30. New Jersey: highest rate of citizen taxation (11.8 percent) The Retirement Living Information Center
31. New Mexico: antisocial claim based on lowest ranking in social heath policies Los Alimos Study Group
32. New York: longest average daily commute (30.6 minutes) StateMaster
33. North Carolina: lowest average teacher salary Facing South
34. North Dakota: ranked last in ugliest residents report as chosen by The Daily Beast
35. Ohio: nerdiest state claim based on highest number of library visits per capita (6.9) StateMaster
36. Oklahoma: highest rate of female incarceration.
37. Oregon: highest rate of long-term homeless people.
38. Pennsylvania: highest rate of arson deaths (55.56 annually) StateMaster
39. Rhode Island: highest rate of illicit drug use (12.5 percent of population) EconomicMix
40. South Carolina: highest percentage of mobile homes (18.8 percent) StateMaster
41. South Dakota: highest rate of forcible rape 76.5 per 100,000.
42. Tennessee: chosen most corrupt state by The Daily Beast
43. Texas: lowest high school graduation rate (78.3 percent) Statemaster
44. Utah: highest rate of of on-line porn subscriptions Desert News
45. Vermont: infertility claim based on lowest birth rate of any state (10.6 births per 1,000) (tied with Maine) StateMaster
46. Virginia: highest number of alcohol-related motorcycle deaths The Virginia Biker
47. Washington: most cases of bestiality (4 reported in 2010) Pet-Abuse
48. West Virginia: highest rate of heart attack (6.5 percent of population).
49. Wisconsin: highest rate of binge drinking (23.2 percent of population).
50. Wyoming: highest rate of deadly car crashes (24.6 deaths per 100,000) AutoInsuranceQuotealer
