APEC Sets Goals On Climate Change

Pacific Rim Summit Adopts Agreements On Energy And Global Warming; 3,000 March In Protest, 9 Arrested

(AP)  Pacific Rim leaders on Saturday said the world needs to "slow, stop and then reverse" greenhouse gas emissions, and adopted modest goals to curb global warming as thousands of demonstrators rallied to demand they do more.

Some experts and activists dismissed as ineffective the program adopted by the presidents of the United States, China, Russia and leaders of other Asia-Pacific economies at an annual summit - which did not set goals for cutting countries' output of polluting gases.

But it sets a precedent because it applies to all of the group's mix of rich and developing members, and could influence upcoming U.N. negotiations on climate change.

"The world needs to slow, stop and then reverse the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions," the 21 leaders said in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum's declaration on climate change.

Leaders "charted a new international consensus for the region and the world," summit host Australian Prime Minister John Howard said outside the Sydney Opera House, where the leaders adopted the declaration on the first of two days of talks.

A dozen blocks away and on the other side of a 10-ft. metal fence fortified by concrete barriers and a police cordon, about 3,000 protesters held a colorful, mostly peaceful march and rally. Causes included protests against U.S. President George W. Bush, the Iraq war and ending poverty.

Kerry Nettle, a senator from the Greens party, demanded that the Pacific Rim leaders take "real action" on global warming, drawing cheers. One protester wore a T-shirt that read "Climate Change is not Cool." Another was dressed a polar bear.

Police, who had warned of potential violence and been given special search powers by the local government, had only minor scuffles with demonstrators, arresting 17 protesters. Two officers were also injured, police said.

The APEC climate change program brings together some of the world's powerhouse economies and some of its biggest polluters. As such, it could influence upcoming negotiations before the end of the year in Washington, New York and Indonesia to devise a successor to the U.N.-backed Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012.

"If you have APEC, especially the largest emitters - the U.S., China, Russia, Japan - sign up to an agreement like that, it would be hard to ignore at the global level," said Malcolm Cook of Sydney-based think-tank the Lowy Institute.

The program's centerpiece is a goal to reduce "energy intensity" - the amount of energy needed to produce a dollar of gross domestic product - 25 percent by 2030.

The only other concrete goal was to increase forest cover in the region by at least 50 million acres by 2020 - enough to absorb about 11 percent of the greenhouse gases the world emitted in 2004, the final statement said.

Both are nonbinding targets in keeping with APEC's voluntary, consensus-based approach.

Environmental groups and some climate change experts said the agreement was weak.

"In practical terms, that will mean almost nothing," said Frank Jotzo, an Australian National University expert in climate change economics. "It is very unambitious."

The energy intensity target sets a rate that most economies are naturally meeting as they get richer and shift out of power-intensive manufacturing, he said.

"If the APEC statement is the platform for future action on climate change, then the world is in trouble," said Greenpeace energy campaigner Catherine Fitzpatrick.

In the plodding bargaining this past week, officials tried to bridge differences between richer and developing nations.

The targets, a demand of Australia and the U.S., apply to all countries. Under Kyoto, China, India and other developing countries were largely exempted from emissions targets applied to industrial countries. At APEC, developing countries got richer members to reaffirm that they should bear most of the costs in solving global warming.

"In diplomacy, we cannot be 100 percent satisfied because it is a product of negotiations, and in the end we have to live with it," Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, whose government had earlier opposed the target, told reporters. "Any product of negotiation, whatever document we call it, it is a product of compromise."

U.S. presidential aide Dan Price said the APEC declaration was a "very ambitious statement" that forged "quite a bold new direction" on climate change.

[sgtrds]

So Bush is now on Air Force One and winging his way back to the States. Here''s hoping it disappears over the ocean and is never heard from again. The only thing better that that would be is if the fat tub of pig guts Cheney was on it too.

[badgersouth1]

For the human race, there is no Planet B!

[lars008-2009]

SYSTEMIC CORRUPTION IN THE DEMONIC-RAT PARTY

FBI arrests 11 NJ officials for bribery
All of them are Democrats.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/09/fbi_arrests_11_nj_officials_fo.html
systemic corruption in the Democratic Party
Corruption sting crosses N.J.
12 charged in a widening investigation that began with contracts in an Atlantic County school district.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070907_Corruption_sting_crosses_N_J_.html

Hillary campaign honcho among 11 busted in N.J. sting
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/09/07/2007-09-07_hillary_campaign_honcho_among_11_busted_.html
11 Arrested in N.J. Corruption Inquiry
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/nyregion/06corruptCND.html?em&ex=1189310400&en=b504d6c2fbd19cba&ei=5087%0A

Castro''s tip: Clinton-Obama the winning ticket
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2825114320070829?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Kathleen Willey: Clintons stole my manuscript
House burglary over weekend targeted copy of book days after details leaked to press
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/staticarticles/article57498.html

[jimfinster]

The fringe minority environmentalist will always only tell you half the truth. You always hear about 2000 UN (govt. welfare) scientist, there are 2 million of the rest of us scientist who would never ask you to "believe" in made up and distorted conclusions about the weather and the future.
Posted by gethefacts at 01:11 PM : Sep 08, 2007

1) Based on your post I very much doubt you are a scientist.

2) I doubt you could find 200 scientists to agree with your wacky post, much less 2 million!! (are there REALLY that many scientists?!?)

3) Live up to your name and go GETHEFACTS!! Thanks.

[sparks224]

Looks like they%u2019re having a great OPEC summit there in Austria.

[sparks224]

I am sure relieved to hear that global warming is a big hoax and that everything is really going great in Iraq. If I hadn''t turned on the Fox Noise channel, I wouldn''t know any of this stuff.

[tucano2]

We know the "spin" was "jet-lag" but wasn''t it just another case of too much alcohol? Can''t wait for this lame duck drunk to go.

[extremophil]

The first thing to do about global warming is to stuff a cork in Al Gore''s @ss.

[drummer94]

Shrub was wondering why they we''re asking him if he wanted to put another shrimp on the barbee. He was looking for some schnitzel.

[lars008-2009]

Posted by gethefacts at 01:11 PM : Sep 08, 2007

Breaking: Less Than Half of all Published Scientists Endorse Global Warming Theory

SURVEY: LESS THAN HALF OF ALL PUBLISHED SCIENTISTS ENDORSE GLOBAL WARMING THEORY; COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY OF PUBLISHED CLIMATE RESEARCH REVEALS CHANGING VIEWPOINTS
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=b35c36a3-802a-23ad-46ec-6880767e7966

[gethefacts]

The fringe minority environmentalist will always only tell you half the truth. You always hear about 2000 UN (govt. welfare) scientist, there are 2 million of the rest of us scientist who would never ask you to "believe" in made up and distorted conclusions about the weather and the future. Since when is CO2 the life giving gas of all green plant life on earth considered a pollutant. The earth%u2019s atmosphere has less than 1% of CO2 available. Humans burning fuels only contribute less than one tenth of that amount, the rest must come from nature for our planet to survive. The green plants in turn give off the oxygen we need to live. We breath out CO2 every time we take a breath. (think about that) CO2 is not even a main (theoretical) global warming gas, water vapor is, clouds in the sky. Without them we would freeze at night like on the moon or burn up during the day. Every year we have 40-50 degree global warming, it''s called summer. When things grow and come to life and bear fruit and crops produce harvest. Learn the truth, get the real facts, read the real science, not this news media hype. Scientific facts are not determined by a debate. There is no debate. Real Science is not something you have to "believe in". Don''t be afraid to learn the truth. Google "no global warming" get the facts, then you decide. You will sound a lot more intelligent.

[pianoman42]

Good thing Ike did not confuse Australia with Austria.

[wdrussell1]

Hey lars your on the wrong board again.
If you could read English you might know that.

[lars008-2009]

Posted by waynabq at 10:55 AM : Sep 08, 2007

Character is far more important than intellect in making a man a good citizen Theodore Roosevelt

In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing. Theodore Roosevelt

I would rather go out of politics feeling that I had done what was right than stay in with the approval of all men, knowing in my heart that I had acted as I ought not to. - Speech to the New York Assembly 1884 Theodore Roosevelt

[lars008-2009]

Posted by CBS_Oliver at 10:47 AM : Sep 08, 2007

tell it to fascist nazi terrorislam haji...

look who is targeting civilians haji...

Qaeda warns of attacks ''worse than 9/11''
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070530102648.wuwa6k96&show_article=1

Hizbullah Deputy Sec-Gen Sheikh Naim Qassem: We Have Jurisprudent Permission to Carry Out ''Martyrdom'' Operations, Fire Missiles on Israeli Civilians From Ayatollah Khomeini
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD154907

Switching Sides: Inside The Enemy Camp

But then in 2000, well before his arrest, something happened which would make Abas question everything he believed in: a fatwa, a religious edict, was issued by Osama bin Laden.

"It should be understood that killing Americans and Jews anywhere found are the highest act of worship and the highest form of good deeds in the eyes of Allah," Simon quotes bin Laden.

Abas and his fellow commanders were ordered to read the fatwa to their men and make sure they carried it out. The others obeyed, but Abas refused. It was his moment of truth. He firmly believed that jihad was to be fought only on the battlefield in defense of Islam; he had always been taught that the killing of civilians had nothing to do with holy war and that it was forbidden.

The fatwa justified killing non-Muslim civilians everywhere.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/04/60minutes/main2761108.shtml?source=RSSattr=60Minutes_2761108

[waynabq]

Bush was thanking the "Austrian" troops for their support in Afghanistan and Iraq. You''ve got 30% of the U.S. population still supporting this moron. What''s that say about the average IQ of the typical American voter?

Lars008 is a typical example, not the brightest bulb in the chain or the sharpest tool in the toolbox.

[waynabq]

Global Warming is a "Liberal" hoax, the only people who really believe that are an ignorant Chimp or one his millions of moron followers who view him as a "hero" for hiring a lawyer to "edit" out the findings from a government scientific paper/study supporting the reality of global warming several years ago.

As I''ve said before, anyone using the word "Liberal" as a derogatory term is a imbecile that would include Limbaugh, Hannity and O''Reilly and their avid but mindless audience.

[drummer94]

Ah, more lip-service by the powers that be, and the powers that wanna-be. Was shrub SURE he was in Australia? ***hic***

[cbs_oliver]

"Now let%u2019s say a month later you go to that same man%u2019s house and go to his bedroom. You look in the dresser drawer and the gun isn%u2019t there. You ask him %u201Cwhere%u2019s the gun?%u201D If he says, %u201Cwhat gun? I don%u2019t know anything about a gun,%u201D you can%u2019t just say %u201COk%u201D and take his word for it. He had the gun before, so one of two things happened. Either he still has the gun and hid it somewhere, or he disposed of the gun, in which case he should be able to explain how he disposed of it. But in no case, can you conclude that the gun never existed in the first place.

Posted by lars008 at 10:34 AM : Sep 08, 2007"

Of course, if you kill him because he had a gun at one time and you have bad dreams about him harming you then you are the really dangerouos one and something of a paranoid killer.

Only psychos kill because they have bad dreams.

The analogy fails for other reasons as well. Iraq is a dinky country with limited weapons capability at their peak of weapons capability - more analogous to a person with sling shot.

We are a continental power with bases around the world and tremendous weapons capability - more analagous to a person with a nuclear missile. In fact we could easily kill all life in Iraq in an matter of minutes using the nukes from just one of our nuclear submarines.

The whole effort at rationalization is depraved and nonsense.

[lars008-2009]

Posted by CBS_Oliver at 10:37 AM : Sep 08, 2007

WHAT TO DO WITH 1.3BILLION FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAMIC MUDSCUMS???

TURN THEM INTO SOYLENT GREEN

AND FEED THEM TO THE HOGS... LOL

Soylent Green
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_Green