| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Papua ooh mau mau The real story behind the world's favorite scolding of the U.S. |
David Roberts |
22 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Last month, Kevin Conrad became somewhat famous representing Papua New Guinea at the Bali climate talks. Confronted yet again with U.S. intransigence, Conrad said: I would ask the United States, we ask for your leadership. But if for some reason you're not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us. Please get out of the way. The way the story's been told, Conrad's bold moral cry shattered the wall of U.S. indifference and broke the logjam. Naturally, the realit ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, international politics, politics, United States (all these topics) |
|
|
Disentangling the confusion of Bali
|
Joseph Romm |
20 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Tom Friedman is very confused about exactly what happened at Bali and why. So are M.I.T. science journalist fellows. So what are your chances of figuring it out? Well, they are a lot better if you read this excellent Bali debriefing by my friend Holmes Hummel (PDF), a Stanford Ph.D. and Congressional Science Fellow. One interesting point she makes: Some media coverage left the misimpression that the Bush team opposed language that would have committed Annex I (i.e., ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, international politics, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Belated Bali blogging An incomplete roundup of reactions and commentary to the Bali climate meetings |
David Roberts |
18 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| I feel somewhat guilty for not following the goings-on in Bali more closely. A few of you have written to ask why. It's just that every single international meeting on climate since I started covering this stuff has gone down the exact ... same ... way. It's like clockwork: everyone arrives full of hope, because now, finally, there's real momentum, people really get the problem; midway through, everyone's getting more and more pissed at the U.S. for its intransigence; ... |
|
| Topics: international politics, politics, climate, Bali 07 (all these topics) |
|
|
Where do we go from here? The Bali meeting, and the lessons learned |
Tom Athanasiou |
17 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| It's important, this time, to draw conclusions, and to do so publicly. Because Bali has taken us -- barely and painfully -- over a line and into a new and even more difficult level in the climate game we'll be playing for the rest of our lives. In fact, it's not too much to say that, with the realizations of the last year and their culmination at the 13th Conference of Parties, the game has, finally, belatedly, begun in earnest. First up, we knew going into Bal ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, energy, politics, international politics, climate change mitigation (all these topics) |
|
|
Notable quotable
|
David Roberts |
16 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| 'We seek your leadership. But if for some reason you are not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us. Please get out of the way.'-- Kevin Conrad, U.N. delegate from Papua New Guinea, during contentious last-minute climate talks in Bali. Conrad's blunt declaration was met with applause. |
|
| Topics: quotables, Bali 07, politics, international politics, climate (all these topics) |
|
|
Letter from Bali: A tragic truth Professor Andrew Light laments the unnecessary line in the sand the U.S. has drawn in Bali |
Guest author |
15 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| This is a guest essay from Andrew Light, an environmental ethicist and professor of philosophy and public affairs at the University of Washington in Seattle. He attended the Bali meetings as an observer and participant in a side event. The essay comes to us from Nusa Dua, Indonesia. ----- I must admit, I clapped. I was probably among the loudest. A line in the sand. Photo: iStockphoto With the negotiations here in Bali for the U.N. confere ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics, international politics (all these topics) |
|
|
No Day at the Beach in Bali High drama leads to compromise at climate conference |
|
15 Dec 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 12:11 PM on 15 Dec 2007 After days of bitter fighting and an overtime stretch filled with twists and turns and even tears, world leaders on Saturday came to agreement on a rough roadmap for developing a new global climate treaty by 2009. The European Union had pushed for industrialized countries to commit to cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions of 25 to 40 percent by 2020, but the U.S., Canada, and Japan, amo ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, news, United Nations (all these topics) |
|
|
All's well that ends not completely horribly Countries strike climate deal in Bali |
David Roberts |
15 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Apparently they've reached some kind of agreement at Bali. Sounds like the last 24 hours have been a real white-knuckler: BALI, Indonesia (CNN) -- The United States made a dramatic reversal Saturday, first rejecting and then accepting a compromise to set the stage for intense negotiations in the next two years aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. The U.N. climate change conference in Bali was filled with emotion and cliff-hanging anticipation on Sa ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, politics, international politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Big Bali of trouble It's time to throw down on the home court |
Youth Movement |
14 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Post by Richard Graves and Erin Condit-Bergren, U.S. youth delegation. Nusa Dua, Bali. We have been sitting outside the closed conference rooms where delegates from around the world engage in the grueling process of working out an international climate policy, line by line. Campaigners, delegates, and journalists mill about, trading rumors and whispering strategy. Everyone has been working nonstop for two whole weeks, and it all has come down to this one long ... |
|
| Topics: international politics, politics, climate, Bali 07 (all these topics) |
|
|
A little Al for the rest of us Blogging from Al Gore's speech in Bali |
Youth Movement |
14 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Post by Richard Graves, U.S. youth delegate and editor of It's Getting Hot in Here As I wrote this post, I was listening to Al Gore give his speech at the U.N. Climate Negotiations. It had been a long trip here, and despite the schedule and the heat I was still excited. As we sat in the audience, we spoke with Kevin Knobloch from UCS and watched Kelley trying to talk with U.S. representative Paula Dobriansky ... but we were all here to listen to Al Gore. I ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, Al Gore, climate, politics, international politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Annals of irritants, part two Arlen Specter proclaims importance of fighting climate change in Bali; votes against it in D.C. |
David Roberts |
14 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| In a letter to the president (PDF), 52 members of Congress expressed their disapproval of the U.S. stance in Bali: The clear implication is that the United States will refuse to agree to any language putting the United States on an established path toward scientifically-based emission limits ... We write to express our strong disagreement with these positions and to urge you to direct the U.S. negotiating team to work together with other countries to complete ... |
|
| Topics: climate, Bali 07, politics, international politics, energy (all these topics) |
|
|
The Forbidden Specificity Bali climate meeting goes overtime, drops specific emissions targets |
|
14 Dec 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 7:48 AM on 14 Dec 2007 The two-week United Nations climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, has gone into overtime, lasting past its scheduled end as the U.S., Canada, and Japan duked it out with European countries and developing nations in a battle over emissions targets. As expected, the U.S. team, led by Chief Negotiator "Snarlin'" Harlan Watson, has successfully negotiated agains ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, news, United Nations (all these topics) |
|
|
Bali'd
|
David Roberts |
14 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Well, looks like we managed to bolix that one up pretty well. |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, international politics, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Roadblock at Bali Climate Conference? Not U.S.! The U.S. sits on the sidelines rather than leading the charge in a war on climate change |
Anna Fahey |
13 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Americans have a history of joining together in times of crisis. But the terminology of war is the most familiar rallying cry. So it's understandable that when he's talking about global warming, John Edwards often implores Americans to be 'patriotic about something other than war.' And when Al Gore accepted his Nobel Prize this week, he said, 'We must quickly mobilize our civilization with the urgency and resolve that has previously been seen only when nations mobili ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, climate change mitigation, international politics, politics, United States (all these topics) |
|
|
State of play in Bali Second-to-last issue of the Bali ECO newsletter |
Tom Athanasiou |
12 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Issue #10 if the Bali ECO is here (PDF). You may need to read between the lines a bit if you haven't been following the negotiations. But it's not hard. |
|
| Topics: politics, climate, Bali 07, international politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Elephants in the room Greenpeace India points out the obvious |
Tom Athanasiou |
12 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The taxi driver that took me from the Bali airport to my hotel in Nusa Dua, the secure 'green zone' where the climate negotiations are taking place, didn't speak much English. Just well enough to say, haltingly, that he was 'too stupid' to have a better job, he didn't drink, and he was very depressed because he was lonely, but too poor to get married. Oh, and that the Westin, where I was not staying, was the 'best' place. Very 'luxury.' Very 'Western.' Now, a ... |
|
| Topics: India, China, climate, international politics, politics, Bali 07 (all these topics) |
|
|
All That Glitters Is Not Goal U.S. blocking agreement on emissions goal at Bali conference |
|
12 Dec 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 6:42 AM on 12 Dec 2007 Defying all predictions, the United States delegation at the United Nations climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, appears to have successfully blocked agreement on specific emissions-reduction targets so far. Europe and many developing nations have called for cuts of 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020 to avoid the effects of catastrophic warming, but in the face of U.S. opp ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, news, United States (all these topics) |
|
|
We Can't Think of Any More U.S. and allies are, as expected, stick-in-the-muds at Bali conference |
|
11 Dec 2007 |
News |
| "Bali" Puns at the Moment U.S. and allies are, as expected, stick-in-the-muds at Bali conference Posted at 4:32 PM on 11 Dec 2007 Bali update: The latest draft of negotiations is said to still contain text saying that developed nations should cut emissions by 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. The U.S., Japan, Canada, and Australia are against said provision, non-binding as it is; it will likely be removed by the end of the week, as final guidelines ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, international politics, international treaties, news, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
The land down underwater What happens to a woman without a country? |
Youth Movement |
11 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| By Amanda McKenzie, national coordinator of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. ----- Along with 10 other young Australians, I traveled to Bali to bring the voice of Australia's youth to the U.N. Climate Change Conference. We have been reminding world leaders that our future is threatened. However, my personal concerns about my future were eclipsed when a young woman named Claire from the small island nation of Kiribati stood up in front of 200 internatio ... |
|
| Topics: Kiribati, climate equity, climate, climate change impacts, Bali 07 (all these topics) |
|
|
The Way the Bali Bounces Bali conference goes into second week |
|
10 Dec 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 5:12 PM on 10 Dec 2007 The latest from Bali: On Saturday, a draft text was produced suggesting that developed nations cut emissions between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. The U.S. and Japanese delegations were displeased; by Monday, that target was reportedly dropped. Sen. John Kerry paid a visit to assure delegates, "I am convinced the politics of 2009 in the United States are going to be just night and ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, international politics, international treaties, news, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
The real action in Bali Grassroots mobilizes over the weekend at int'l climate conference |
Youth Movement |
10 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Post by Will Bates, Stepitup 2007 The weekend has finished, and countries are diving into their second week in Bali of chit-chatting about what to do about climate change. While we may not be seeing much bold action so far at this round of negotiations, we know that global public pressure for urgent action is beginning to mount ... Saturday was the third annual International Day of Action on Climate Change, which the Global Climate Campaign helped coordina ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, grassroots activism, international politics, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
My country, right or ... wait, no, that's definitely wrong US and EU demand import-tariff reductions on stuff that they export |
David Roberts |
10 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Wow, the latest out of Bali is really, um, something to behold: The US and the European Union found a rare common cause when they combined to ask developing nations to cut or remove tariffs on imports of environmental goods and services. Golly, why would developing nations not go for that? Other developing countries were also understood to be concerned that the proposal would only benefit rich nations, by opening up export markets in green goods and services ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, biofuels, climate, international politics, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Leaders: Follow, or Get Out of the Way Thousands of protesters in over 50 cities call for climate action, now |
|
10 Dec 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 7:41 AM on 10 Dec 2007 This weekend, thousands of people around the world protested for climate action in at least 50 cities, urging the governments meeting at the United Nations climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, to get serious about curbing climate change. An estimated 10,000 people protested in London, marching through the streets to rally outside the U.S. embassy, emph ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, news (all these topics) |
|
|
The Bali is in our court US reps to present unfinished energy bill to UNFCCC |
Youth Movement |
09 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| When a few members of U.S. Congress come to Bali next week to meet with delegations from all round the world, they'll have something in hand: a first step in the direction of climate change legislation from the U.S.35mpg fuel economy standards and 15% renewable energy requirements from utilities may not seem like all that much, but for the rest of the world's leaders, who have been holding their collective breath, it's a twitch of life from a government long considere ... |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, international politics, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
SustainUS in Action in Bali Confronting the belligerent U.S. delegation at the 2007 climate talks |
Erik Hoffner |
08 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| A friend of mine is in Bali with the youth activist group SustainUS, and sent this video update: (Thanks, Lauren.) Check out the body language on the guy who I presume is the U.S. delegate to the talks, as the SustainUS group asks him to take a leading role in the talks to ensure a better future for the planet. Unfortunately, he pretty well embodies the word "obstructionist." |
|
| Topics: Bali 07, climate, grassroots activism, international politics, politics (all these topics) |
|
|