The U.S. Bomb Squad

The U.S. is getting ready for a press conference. Unlike all press conferences at the UN Climate Change Conference, this is the first … the only one … to require that everyone leave the room so a bomb squad could check out the entire room.

This action speaks louder than everything else here. The U.S. is out of step and fearful.

The formal statements now being made by U.S. reps are occuring in a “backwater”. They are a dim echo to the tremendous rallying cry from Australian’s PM Kevin Rudd to the UN delegates an hour ago.

Delegates were energized by Rudd’s message. He received widespread acclaim for his strong political leadership.

New Zealand, Norway and Costa Rica also stepped forward to provide extraordinary leadership. These three countries announced their commitment become carbon neutral countries by 2040. They have chosen a common goal and each will take different and similar paths to get there.

They recognize that they will become role models for other nations to follow.

New Zealand, in fact, says that it will produce 90% of its electricity by 2025, through renewable energy. They are placing a moritorium on future fossil fuel generation of electricity.

The U.S. press conference is saying nothing new. They say they are in the midst of trying to get a definition. What are the targets that should be defined? Its a fluid process…. we’re at the beginning, we have to see where it goes. They want all nations to share the same goals…. They want China to be included here.

The UNFCCC has provided extraordinary leadership in Bali: they have created a framework, political leadership, a format to organize discussions for nearly 200 countries, and have now agreed to set their own example of carbon neutral practices within their own UN agencies.

The US is the lame duck here. It’s in the gunsites of the press.

The press is critical. The current question: Will the U.S. put a price on carbon, or will we have to wait for the next president?

The U.S. favors nuclear power, low carbon coal technology, and cost effective biofuels. They are looking for the technology to be developed enough to bring the cost down.