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Saturday, December 11, 2010

What Happens in Cancún Stays in Cancún

“The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience.” — Albert Camus

The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Cancún, Mexico, from 29 November to 10 December 2010. The conference is officially referred to as the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16)  to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 6th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties (CMP 6) to the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, the two permanent subsidiary bodies of the UNFCCC – the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) – held their 33rd sessions. The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference extended the mandates of the two temporary subsidiary bodies, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA), and they met as well.

The outcome of the summit was an agreement, not a binding treaty, which calls on rich countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as pledged in the Copenhagen Accord and for developing countries to plan to reduce their emissions, to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The agreement includes a proposed $100 billion a year fund to assist poorer countries finance emission reductions and adaptation.

The New York Times described the agreement as being both a "major step forward" given that international negotiations had stumbled in recent years, and as being "fairly modest" as it did not require the changes that scientists say are needed to avoid dangerous climate change.

There were about 15,000 delegates from 194 countries. But no one of any importance bothered to come — no leaders from the free or the un-free world with the exception of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who gave the opening address and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. It was left to the totally daft Ted ("I'm not chased by demons") Turner to try to keep everyone from falling fast asleep and forgetting all about global warming.

These delegates there on their government’s dime stayed in 5-star hotels and dined and wined in the finest restaurants. They sipped on margaritas at poolside and enjoyed basking in the warm Mexican sun while they convinced each other of the righteousness of their cause. Everyone was preaching to the choir.

Notably absent were luminaries like Barak Obama, Hilary Clinton and John Kerry, who were present and visible at COP-15 in Copenhagen. Heads of state were conspicuous by the absence from COP-16. No fewer than 119 heads of state signed up for Copenhagen. Even Robert Mugabe, the deranged president of Zimbabwe, felt compelled to put in an appearance. As far as I can tell from COP-16's blog site, Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, were the only heads of state in attendance this year. Nor did any leading U.S. Democrats come down to soak up the sun or to add some much needed spice to the warmed-over warnings of global warming being served to the participants. Even alarmist-in-chief Al Gore was a no-show.

Calderón did not help the cause by giving a boring opening address. Calling on negotiators in Cancún to make progress in the interest of their children and grandchildren, he said that the "eyes of the world" were focused on the meeting. In an audience composed of mid-level UN officials and apparatchiks like Jane Davidson, the Welsh environmental minister, I doubt that there was a single soul who didn't know full well that the eyes of the world were glazed over at the thought of one more global warming summit.

Thus it was left to always surprising Ted Turner — author of the autobiography Call Me Joe — to try to inject some life into the conference. Turner, a longtime supporter of the president, said that Obama had made "a big mistake" by ramming through Obamacare rather than cap-and-trade. As he put it in his inimitable way, "If we don't stop global warming, we'll be extinct, and then we'll be really sorry."

At this time last year, the lunatics were in full command of the asylum. Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry and a supporting cast of thousands were jetting off to Copenhagen to swear their undying allegiance to the idea that it is necessary to save the planet from the scourge of human life. That would be human life, most particularly, as it is lived here in the United States and other parts of the world that have not yet gotten around to pulling the plug on capitalism and moving on to a more enlightened way of organizing production and redistributing material wealth. Climate change is a religion for them — This is their Hajj.

Never mind that the "Climategate" scandal had only recently exposed how climate scientists working for the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had conspired to quash evidence contrary to the theory of man-made global warming. Paying no attention to that, Obama began his speech to the UN Climate Summit Conference in Copenhagen with these words:

“Good morning. It is an honor for me to join this distinguished group of leaders from nations around the world. We come here in Copenhagen because climate change poses a grave a growing danger to our people. All of you would not be here unless you -- like me -- were convinced that this danger is real. It is not fiction, it is science. Unchecked, climate change will pose unacceptable risks to our security, our economies, and our planet….That's why I come here today -- not to talk, but to act.”

Well, actually, nothing came of the Copenhagen conference. There was no global climate deal. But so what? The point is, the president rubbed shoulders with just about all of world's leaders at the Copenhagen conference — everyone from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Indian premier Manmohan Singh, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. From Copenhagen Obama flew on to Oslo to collect the Nobel Peace Prize and give another speech filled with intimations of his own omniscience.

There was, however, an event at COP-16 that is going unreported in the left wing mainstream media, an event that gives pause to those who believe in the expertise of these true believers in climate change. A group from the student arm of a market-oriented non-profit environmental group known as the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), circulated a partition among the delegates calling for the ban of dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO). They went about with clipboards containing copies of the petition and asking delegates to sign. The petition claimed that DHMO was responsible for:

  • Is called "hydroxyl acid", the substance is the major component of acid rain.
  • Contributes to the "greenhouse effect".
  • May cause severe burns.
  • Is fatal if inhaled.
  • Contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
  • Accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
  • May cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
  • Has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.
    Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:
    • As an industrial solvent and coolant.
    • In nuclear power plants.
    • In the production of Styrofoam.
    • As a fire retardant.
    • In many forms of cruel animal research.
    • In the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
    • As an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.
    With the sincerity and passion expressed by the petitioners many of the delegates were enthusiastically signing without realizing that this purported to be dangerous compound, DHMO, was the correct chemical nomenclature, for water, H2O. It’s amazing to see these leftist, environmentalists being so gullible and ignorant of the subject they purport to be so expert in. Your absolutely have to watch the video of the useful idiots signing up to ban water. Click here for the video, you will love the music. Play it a few times and watch the seriousness of the signers. You can read a full account of the useful scam by clicking here and an explanation of how the DHMO hoax started by clicking here.

    If a group of college students can fool these delegates into banning water, is it any surprise that the UN can fool then into devastating our economy by reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, something humans exhale and plants inhale. What a state we have created for ourselves — a soft tyranny of the left.

    And this raises a further subject for honest wonderment. What a difference a year has made in the life of our 44th president.

    A year ago, he was flying over to Europe to give speeches and accept a Nobel Prize. Today he is sulking in his tent and lashing out at critics both left and right. He even claims that he is the victim of a "hostage" situation. He is upset that the Republicans seem to have hijacked the bus carrying the clear majority of the American people and are using that to make outrageous demands. Pobre hombre! (The “poor devil", an “unlucky one” for you non Spanish speakers) It seems that he has come face-to-face with the realization that he really doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing as the leader of the United States and the free world. He has to call upon Bill Clinton to hold hid hand as he battles his opposition.

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