Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Barack Obama faces 'revolution' if he imposes tough carbon targets, warns IPCC

I assume there is a political angle* here but haven't thought it through yet.
From (the right leaning) Telegraph:
Barack Obama faces a "revolution" if he imposes emission cuts on the US similar to those set in Europe, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has conceded.

But Rajendra Pachauri, head of the United Nation's body tasked with leading the fight against climate change, also questioned the value of a new global climate deal without such a US pledge.

He said political constraints such as creating new jobs made it impossible for the new president to announce the measures that scientists believe are necessary...MORE

The (left leaning) Guardian's headline was:

UN climate chief: US carbon cuts could spark 'revolution'

*I am reminded of Human Rights Watch giving an official HRW okey-dokey to the Obama administration on rendition last month:

It is confirmed that one of the loopholes in the president's anti-torture orders allows the continuance of rendition by the CIA, which consists of secretly snatching suspects off the street without any due process and "rendering" them to jails in other countries. Rendition is at the heart of the state secrecy apparatus, and should be of concern to any civil liberties, human rights, or democracy advocates.

But Human Rights Watch and, apparently, other human rights groups signed off on renditions in talks with the Obama administration, saying publicly that there is "a legitimate place" for the practice....MORE

-Tom Hayden at the Huffington Post