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Obama says will move immediately on international climate pact

Posted at 5:05 PM on 11 Feb 2008

Prior to his weekend wins in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Barack Obama promised to begin developing the U.S. position on an international pact to halt global warming now, instead of waiting until 2009. "I've been in conversations with former Vice President [Al] Gore repeatedly, and his recommendation, which I think is sound, is that you can't wait until you are sworn into office to get started," Obama proclaimed. "I think we need to start reaching out to other countries ahead of time, not because I'm presumptuous, but because there's such a sense of urgency about this." In addition, he declared, "I know that my climate change plan is stronger than John McCain's." Ain't it nice to see politicians all hot under the collar about climate?

source: Reuters

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Comments: (7 comments)

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Obama and McCain on climate progress

Given recent statements by McCain, especially during the Florida GOP debate, positions on climate change could be a clear differentiator among candidates from this point toward November. If Barack Obama is truly serious, he will specify, with a realistic plan, how he'll reduce emissions in the short run with aggressive energy efficiency measures and credible commitments to renewable energy over the long haul. He can start by challenging the Bush Admnistration to capitalize on its hosting the first-ever, ministerial-level, renewable energy summit in the U.S. -- the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference, or WIREC, and its companion Trade Show -- to scale up renewable energy equal to or better than the favors many industry experts agree it is doling out to utilities for next-generation nuclear power plants.

by JRinMD at 6:47 PM on 11 Feb 2008

What Obama Will Do

Barak Obama is a big supporter of coal and nuclear energy. Figure it out. Climate change is not the only serious environmental issue folks, quit obsessing on it.

by Wolverine at 10:24 PM on 11 Feb 2008

they can't do it

I don't believe the federal government can make a serious dent in the climate change problem. They are in bed with to many contributing sectors. We need to stop waiting on the government to do something and just start doing it ourselves. Obama and McCain will say anything to get the prize at this point.

Never play leap frog with a unicorn.

by bart laemmel at 5:21 AM on 12 Feb 2008

"venom"

Notice the claim of a para-endorsement from Al Gore. Whatever this statement may tell us about Obama's being "ready from Day -75," it certainly reminds us that he is in principle in a much better position to access the Mind of Gore than is Hillary.

Paul Krugman did well, yesterday, to point to the annoying and profoundly unpleasant airs of holier-than-thou superiority on the part of many in the Obama camp, though perhaps "venom" is not quite the right word:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/11/opinion/11krugman.html? ...

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 10:41 AM on 12 Feb 2008

Whomever

Of the three major candidates people endorse, all of them have flawed global warming plans. The job of environmentalists should not be to lend unqualified support to anyone, but to organize and prepare to push the winning candidate further along the road towards the kinds of change that will really address the issue of global warming.

patrick in Beijing

by bookerly at 5:20 AM on 13 Feb 2008

UFOs

One question. Will Barack tell US about the aliens and alien spacecraft the government has squirreled away somewhere? Hehey.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 7:42 AM on 13 Feb 2008

Gore won't be endorsing anyone

He's been counseling neutrality.

And BTW: during the campaign to draft Gore, Gore's office released a statement that he thought Hillary was running a good campaign, and he didn't think he needed to run.

Now, if I were going to act the same way a Obama supporter does, I would claim that meant Gore endorsed Hillary.

It doesn't. It means several things.

Get over yourself. You ain't gonna get the man to speak before he wants.

by greeniemeanie at 11:26 PM on 17 Feb 2008

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