International Politics

Know thine enemy

Is Bill McKibben right to be angry with Obama? 34
Posted 3 days, 21 hours ago In his latest column, Bill McKibben lays into Obama for insufficient leadership on climate change. But the many sins ascribed to Obama almost all trace back to a different source. Properly identifying the barriers to change is the first step in effective political action.
It ain't over yet

Rumors of Copenhagen’s demise have been greatly exaggerated 2
Posted 4 days, 8 hours ago Is a "politically binding" climate treaty really the best we can hope for out of Copenhagen? Is it over before it's begun? Despite what you may have read in the U.S. media, the answer is "No."
Less mopin', more hopin'

Seven reasons for optimism about the Senate climate bill 12
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago Conventional wisdom says that the Kerry-Boxer clean energy bill faces a long uphill slog against unlikely odds. Here's the thing about Beltway CW, though: it always forecasts delay, difficulty, and failure. And it's always right. Until it's wrong. Here are seven reasons for cautious optimism.
Obama antes up

Carbon poker 0
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago I had a dream about watching one of those high stakes poker games that you see on TV. Barack Obama and Hu Jintao were at the table, each with so many chips before them that you could barely see their cowboy shirts. But the purpose in their deadly stares could not be obscured, even by the dark Ray Bans that shaded their eyes.
As good as it'll get

Boxer-Kerry climate bill: what to watch for 2
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago Sens. Boxer and Kerry plan to introduce their climate bill tomorrow. I'm in NYC and DC this week, so it's been tough to find time to write, but here are a few brief notes on what to watch for.
Hooray for buzz kills

Obama gives his first real climate speech—really 4
Posted 1 month, 4 weeks ago It was no barnburner of a speech, but President Obama’s address at the U.N. Climate Summit Tuesday morning amounted to the boldest climate change speech of his presidency. That's because it was essentially the only climate change speech of his presidency.
japan takes a stand

Japan’s new prime minister promises ambitious cuts in CO2 emissions 0
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
Hatoyama, who will take office next week, said Japan would seek to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, but said the target would be contingent on a deal involving all major emitters in Copenhagen in December.
The vanishing point

Lower your expectations for Copenhagen, says Foreign Affairs journal 3
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
Michael A. Levi of the Council on Foreign Relations, writing in the September/October Foreign Affairs, finds “vanishingly small” odds that December’s international negotiations in Copenhagen will produce a comprehensive climate treaty.
There is no above-it-all high enough to clear climate catastrophe

Gideon Rachman: Inability to prevent mass suffering and death a “dilemma for climate activists” 8
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
I want to ask Rachman, and all the pundits who address climate politics: Do you believe the mainstream scientific consensus that climate change poses massive risks for humanity, and that urgent international action is necessary to reduce those risks? If not, say so, clearly. If so, then it's your fight too. You cannot stand on the sidelines.
A New International Report on the Prospects for a Global Deal on Clean Technology Transfer

Governments need to lead the breakthrough on technology 6
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago By Andrew Light, John Podesta
The Obama administration once again convened a Major Economies Forum in Italy this week after the G-8 meeting, which included the world’s 17 major carbon emitters, to press forward on a global deal on climate change and the transformation to a clean-energy economy. One of the most important announcements to come out of this meeting is the formation of a formal “Global Partnership” on “low-carbon, climate-friendly technologies.” This program aims to double the current commitments on technology assistance by 2015 and sets a deadline for mapping actions for achieving a range of important goals on this cluster of issues by November 15, 2009.
Clear as Rudd

Australia’s real climate on climate change 1
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
As ACES moves to the U.S. Senate, we can expect to see a series of arguments emerge aimed at international cooperation on this issue. Worries about China are always at the top. We can’t do something about climate change, the opposition opines, because China will do nothing. But we’ve recently seen a new twist on this mantra going in the opposite direction. Our closest allies—namely, Australia—who are ahead of us on addressing global warming are in fact reversing their course and having second thoughts. Or at least that’s the impression conveyed last week in the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal by Kimberly Strassel. This argument is as false as the claim that China is doing nothing.
Copin' with Copenhagen

What is Obama’s international climate strategy? 9
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
International climate negotiations often seem like some sort of cosmic science fair project -- an aquarium full of hamsters connected to rudimentary motors. There's a lot of frantic running, a lot of sweat and heat, but in the end, very little light.

Faith in the UN climate process has dimmed. Joe Romm calls it a "dead man walking." The Copenhagen talks in December are generally discussed with the same dissonant mixture of urgency ("You have to do it in Copenhagen," says UNFCCC chair Yvo de Boer) and fatalism ("There is no movement," says German environment minister Sigmar Gabriel) as the last dozen rounds of international talks.

The Obama administration knows the danger of sclerosis and is working on several fronts to regain a sense of momentum.
Da we can

U.S.-Russia climate and energy efficiency cooperation: A neglected challenge 1
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
The summit between President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in Moscow on July 6-8 comes in the middle of a packed international schedule of bilateral and multilateral meetings for the United States. on climate change. In the run up to the critical U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen at the end of this year, when the extension or successor to the existing Kyoto Protocol must be agreed upon, it is crucial that the United States and Russia—both major emitters of greenhouse gases and potentially leaders on this crucial issue—explore ways of working together to ensure a positive outcome at these talks. Enhancing cooperation on climate change and energy efficiency should be a major plank of U.S. Russia policy and should be discussed at the highest levels when President Obama meets with President Medvedev next week.
2 degrees of Earth bakin'

47 groups urge Obama to endorse 2-degree C warming threshold 5
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
A broad coalition of environment, science, and faith-based groups sent a letter to President Barack Obama recently asking him to pursue a goal of keeping global warming to less than 2 degrees in upcoming international meetings.
The Climate Post: Something wrought in the state of Denmark? 1
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
A roundup of the week's climate news, from Copenhagen to China to Russia.
Counting the real progress on climate action 0
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Progress on climate policy domestically will increase U.S. leverage in these talks, but President Barack Obama should look for additional ways to improve the American negotiating position than what we currently have on the table.
Letter from Europe

Tripping over the fine print on the way to Copenhagen 3
Posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago
It was only a comma, albeit a hotly disputed one. For me, the single punctuation mark represents a major reason why the world may fail to get to grips with global warming in time, and why a meeting this week may provide the best chance of a breakthrough.
From applause to the reality of the work ahead

Towards the Copenhagen climate change agreement: Round One 1
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago
The international global warming negotiations in Bonn, Germany have just wrapped up. They began with a loud applause as U.S. Special Climate Envoy Todd Stern announced that the U.S. is back. And they ended with the reality of the work that needs to be done over the next 8 months to ensure a strong agreement in Copenhagen. There is a lot to be done, but there are hints that with strong leadership the pieces can fall into place.
Waiting for clearance

Aviation industry proposing solutions to solving their global warming pollution? 2
Posted 7 months, 2 weeks ago
While most of the climate negotiations in Bonn have been focused on key issues around the overall agreement, there has also been some side discussions on other key issues. I've been involved in a couple of discussions (outside the formal negotiations) around how aviation will contribute to efforts to solve global warming.
The Waxman-Markey discussion draft

Providing the tools to get a strong international climate agreement 0
Posted 7 months, 2 weeks ago
What do the international provisions in the Waxma/Markey draft bill mean for helping to secure a strong international commitment in Copenhagen this December?