Posted on 04/05/2009 5:39:48 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
PRAGUE (AFP) – President Barack Obama said Sunday the United States was ready to take the lead in tackling climate change, as EU leaders pushed him to follow their ambitious targets to combat global warming.
"To protect our planet, now is the time to change the way that we use energy," Obama told a crowd gathered at Prague Castle for his only public speech during his maiden tour of Europe.
"Together we must confront climate change by ending the world's dependency on fossil fuels by tapping the power from the sources of energy like the wind and the sun and calling upon all nations to do their part.
"And I pledge to you that in this global effort the US is now ready to lead."
Obama's promise of a leading US role on climate change broke with his predecessor George W. Bush's stance, which had long frustrated Washington's European Union partners.
He was speaking ahead of his first EU-US summit, with European leaders eager for signs Washington is finally willing to commit to major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
European leaders were often exasperated by his predecessor's failure to commit the United States to climate change targets, especially because Europe has set itself ambitious goals.
Their frustration has been compounded by the fact that the United States is the world's biggest polluter, leaving the impression in Europe that EU countries are doing all the heavy-lifting in the fight against climate change.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
US President Barack Obama delivers a speech at Hradcany Square near Prague Castle in Prague. Obama said Sunday the United States was ready to take the lead in tackling climate change, as EU leaders pushed him to follow their ambitious targets to combat global warming. (AFP)
Interesting photograph!
He looks like a gargoyle!
So let me see, he promises to “lead” by following Europe down a path to disaster. All he’s saying is that he will try to get the US to fall in line.
Leadership we better not believe in.
We will all sleep better tonight.
That would be one of the final nails in the coffin of the US market.
There’s nothing wrong with fossil fuels. Unfortunately, Obama really believes this stuff.
hope and change and change and hope
LOL LOL LOL
Exactly right.....final nails in the coffin...
U.S. President Barack Obama attends a welcome ceremony with Czech President Vaclav Klaus (not pictured) on April 5, 2009 at Prague Castle in the Czech capital. REUTERS/Michal Cizek/Pool (CZECH REPUBLIC POLITICS)
Signed:
G-d.
5.56mm
It's back to horse drawn conveyances and sail.
If he’d just shut up for a couple of days that would reduce the hot air quite a bit.
‘twon’t happen.
The MINUTE this doofus is back on American soil proposing this and that, the ‘Free Market Sphincter’ will contract once again, making we contrarian investors rich, rich, RICH!
I DO so wish the price wasn’t the ruination of America, though. :(
Their collective jaws must be dropping as they see the destruction that they so longed to do being done by the so called Leader of the free world!
I am absolutely sure that they see a vast vacuum of leadership and an opportunity arising out of this.
There is no longer a leader of the free world.
Before I call Obama a “F”...ing idiot, I would like for him to know and understand that CHINA uses almost 300% more energy per unit of GDP than the US.
The US is ranked 12th (not that great but CHINA is ranked 81st!)
2007/2008 Human Development Report
22Energy and the environment
GDP per unit of energy use (2000 PPP US$ per kg of oil equivalent) Export results to Excel
http://hdrstats.undp.org/indicators/212.html
HDI Rank Country 2004
1 Iceland 2.5
2 Norway 5.9
3 Australia 4.8
4 Canada 3.4
5 Ireland 9.5
6 Sweden 4.5
7 Switzerland 8.3
8 Japan 6.4
9 Netherlands 5.8
10 France 5.9
11 Finland 3.8
12 United States 4.6
13 Spain 6.9
14 Denmark 7.9
15 Austria 7.3
16 United Kingdom 7.3
17 Belgium 5.2
18 Luxembourg 6.1
19 New Zealand 5.1
20 Italy 8.2
21 Hong Kong, China (SAR) 11.5
22 Germany 6.2
23 Israel 7.3
24 Greece 7.4
25 Singapore 4.4
26 Korea (Republic of) 4.2
27 Slovenia 5.4
28 Cyprus 5.9
29 Portugal 7.1
30 Brunei Darussalam ..
31 Barbados ..
32 Czech Republic 4.0
33 Kuwait 1.9
34 Malta 7.5
35 Qatar ..
36 Hungary 5.9
37 Poland 5.1
38 Argentina 7.4
39 United Arab Emirates 2.2
40 Chile 6.1
41 Bahrain 1.8
42 Slovakia 3.9
43 Lithuania 4.5
44 Estonia 3.5
45 Latvia 5.6
46 Uruguay 10.4
47 Croatia 5.6
48 Costa Rica 10.0
49 Bahamas ..
50 Seychelles ..
51 Cuba ..
52 Mexico 5.5
53 Bulgaria 3.0
54 Saint Kitts and Nevis ..
55 Tonga ..
56 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ..
57 Antigua and Barbuda ..
58 Oman 3.0
59 Trinidad and Tobago 1.3
60 Romania 4.5
61 Saudi Arabia 2.0
62 Panama 8.4
63 Malaysia 4.1
64 Belarus 2.4
65 Mauritius ..
66 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5.3
67 Russian Federation 2.0
68 Albania 5.9
69 Macedonia (TFYR) 4.6
70 Brazil 6.8
71 Dominica ..
72 Saint Lucia ..
73 Kazakhstan 1.9
74 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 2.6
75 Colombia 10.9
76 Ukraine 2.0
77 Samoa ..
78 Thailand 4.9
79 Dominican Republic 7.6
80 Belize ..
81 China 4.4
82 Grenada ..
83 Armenia 5.6
84 Turkey 6.2
85 Suriname ..
86 Jordan 3.6
87 Peru 10.9
88 Lebanon 3.5
89 Ecuador 4.8
90 Philippines 7.9
91 Tunisia 8.2
92 Fiji ..
93 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ..
94 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 3.1
95 Paraguay 6.4
96 Georgia 4.1
97 Guyana ..
98 Azerbaijan 2.5
99 Sri Lanka 8.3
100 Maldives ..
101 Jamaica 2.5
102 Cape Verde ..
103 El Salvador 7.0
104 Algeria 6.0
105 Viet Nam 4.2
106 Occupied Palestinian Territories ..
107 Indonesia 4.1
108 Syrian Arab Republic 3.4
109 Turkmenistan 1.3 1
110 Nicaragua 5.2
111 Moldova 2.0
112 Egypt 4.9
113 Uzbekistan 0.8
114 Mongolia ..
115 Honduras 4.8
116 Kyrgyzstan 3.3
117 Bolivia 4.5
118 Guatemala 6.4
119 Gabon 4.9
120 Vanuatu ..
121 South Africa 3.7
122 Tajikistan 2.1
123 Sao Tome and Principe ..
124 Botswana 8.6
125 Namibia 10.2
126 Morocco 10.3
127 Equatorial Guinea ..
128 India 5.5
129 Solomon Islands ..
130 Lao People’s Democratic Republic ..
131 Cambodia ..
132 Myanmar ..
133 Bhutan ..
134 Comoros ..
135 Ghana 5.4
136 Pakistan 4.2
137 Mauritania ..
138 Lesotho ..
139 Congo 3.3
140 Bangladesh 10.5
141 Swaziland ..
142 Nepal 4.0
143 Madagascar ..
144 Cameroon 4.5
145 Papua New Guinea ..
146 Haiti 6.2
147 Sudan 3.7
148 Kenya 2.1
149 Djibouti ..
150 Timor-Leste ..
151 Zimbabwe 2.6
152 Togo 3.1
153 Yemen 2.8
154 Uganda ..
155 Gambia ..
156 Senegal 6.5
157 Eritrea ..
158 Nigeria 1.4
159 Tanzania (United Republic of) 1.3
160 Guinea ..
161 Rwanda ..
162 Angola 3.3
163 Benin 3.3
164 Malawi ..
165 Zambia 1.5
166 Côte d’Ivoire 3.7
167 Burundi ..
168 Congo (Democratic Republic of the) 2.2
169 Ethiopia 2.8
170 Chad ..
171 Central African Republic ..
172 Mozambique 2.6
173 Mali ..
174 Niger ..
175 Guinea-Bissau ..
176 Burkina Faso ..
177 Sierra Leone ..
I hope not, Eric. It’s sheer madness.
All of these people pushing this know that humans can’t control the climate and that it’s nothing more than a control and taxing mechanism. But the numbers of those who want that kind of power is very large.
Europe has some of the world’s worst water pollution. Real pollution, not made up CO2 “pollution”.
“The swell in the Rhône at the Grand Large just outside Lyon draws tens of thousands of French tourists on holiday weekends.... But under the crystal clear water lurks an environmental disaster the conservation group WWF is calling “a French Chernobyl”.
The French government has banned the consumption of fish from the length of the Rhône.... France’s second longest river has contaminated sediment in its bed and feeding fish have sent the toxins through the food chain. Environmentalists say the poison Rhône, which flows through tourist spots such as the papal city of Avignon down to the Camargue delta, is the tip of the iceberg of French industrial pollution, which the government has recklessly ignored for 20 years.”
He should be more concerned with NK and Iran trying to change our climate.
He’s losing the battle so bad they can’t even use the cliche Global Warming. Now it is even more subjective Climate Change.
Pray for America, Our Troops and the Tea Parties
You folks do not understand the urgency of this crisis !!!
Global temperatures have been steady or falling for the past 11 years. If some meaningless carbon program is not established soon - there will be no way to take credit for it !!
China has a HUGE problem with out-of-control coal mine fires due to their poor safety standards. The amount of CO2 from these accidental coal-mine fires is more than the CO2 put out by all of the autos and trucks combined in the U.S.! (And they are almost impossible to put out.)
Two words for the TOTUS.
Thorium. Reactors.
Cheers!
You can count on it...
Worse - I suspect America is now too “civilized” and lacking in testosterone to initiate the “French Solution” against our Thugocracy as the French did with their "Royalty".
Why does the great one what to change the climate? I like it the way it is. Gee whiz, first the banks, then the auto companies and now the climate. Go figure.
“And I pledge to you that in this global effort the US is now ready to lead.”
B.S. The eco-nazis don't really want wind and solar power. They relentlessly oppose any actual construction of said power plants, while using the promise of the same to foil development of coal, oil and nuclear sources. There is a private company now trying to build a solar power farm in the Mojave desert. They are opposed by Diane Feinstein and the usual eco-groups because the Mojave is supposedly a “unique evironment”. Duh! Everyplace is a “unique environment”. If you cannot build solar power farms in the middle of the desert, where exactly are you going to put the 160,000 square miles of solar panels it would take to replace coal plants? On the moon?
I did not know that.
We have pretty much cleaned up our industrial pollution (thanks to Al Gore, according to him, LOL, except on property he owns), and saying that that which we exhale is a pollutant does not make it so. But again, they know that, and the fact that so many would lie on such a grand scale is the truly frightening thing.
I bet Obamugabe hasn’t spent five days in the oval office since inauguration. Our Dear Leader has been on a continuous rock tour.
The List, ping
“Obama pledges US lead on climate change”
I won’t be pledging to that.
There is no climate change caused by humans ,dipstick ,and if there were you couldnt change it back.
I truly hate that bastard Kenyan.
Obama has promised to increase electricity rates. The rates will be increased to reduce consumption (forced conservation) and subsidize less efficient forms of energy. If energy prices increase enough to substantially reduce consumption, production will move to countries unaffected by CO2 restrictions. Substantial reductions in CO2 will involve closing many coal fired plants. Without these plants, energy shortages will occur. The only technology that can replace coal plants are nuke plants. Since nuke plants are not in the plan, it looks like a game of chicken to me. Rat politicians that vote to shut down coal plants will be run out of town unless the closure can be kicked down road. Obama has threatened to unleash the EPA unless politicians vote for substantial CO2 reduction goals.
This CO2 reduction nonsense provides a strong opening for conservatives. The midwest will be devasted by the effects of CO2 taxes and coal plant closure.
a
The Southeast hasn’t a dog in the fight.
Climate Change.I get up some mornings,it rains,others the sun shines,cold one day,hot the next.What’s the big deal?
This is because narcissists have an insatiable need for adoration. He can't get that inside the White House, except from the press corps.
This is the worst crock ever. It really sickens me when GOP politicians get on board with this.
Frigging unicorns.
BUMP!
PROVE IT, you lying sack of macaca! Let's see the figures for ALL forms of "pollution"; not just cherry picked and massaged individual pollutants.
We have scrubbers of one type or another on nearly all of our stacks.
We've had catalytic converters on our vehicles, as well as both older & newer mandated measures, to clean our auto emissions for from years to decades.
We have 1/4 the population of China, but ALL of our even smallest towns have sewerage/waste-water treatment plants, with secondary & tertiary treatment at the larger cities.
Newer, cleaner controls on what is left of mining & smelting.
Our farming pollution control practices are among the best.
On, and on, and on.
Overall, (and I can say it with confidence, having grown up in the 1950s) our country is cleaner aired, and cleaner watered, especially on a percapita basis, than just about any place else that is worth living; and certainly than it was 50 years ago.
Don't get me started on that other outdated...if ever true...canard about only 5% of the world's population hogging 25% of the world's energy.
Good idea.
Maybe we can get Mark Sanford working on this.
Oh, wait...
That is an extrememly fragile, unique, and pristine environement, that must be protected from development. And the untested but potentially dangerous technology involved in beaming the energy back to earth....
Hey Obama, if you really believe CO2 is a pollutant, show us the way and STOP exhaling. SS, this is not a threat. It is just an In Your Face observation of the crap politicians are forcing down the tax payers’ throats.
They do have a plan to fight AGW!
You can read about it here
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.