Posted on 12/07/2009 1:10:00 PM PST by Schnucki
The European Union today rejected the new carbon emission targets tabled by the United States and China and said they were much too weak to prevent catastrophic climate change.
The dispute between the three main players at the Copenhagen climate change summit overshadowed the first day of negotiations and dashed hopes that a deal on emissions was imminent.
The EU called on President Obama to announce a more ambitious target next week, when he arrives in Copenhagen for the last day of the conference on December 18.
But the US insisted that the provisional offer made 10 days ago by Mr Obama was “remarkable” and in line with what scientists had recommended.
Mr Obama has proposed to cut its emissions by 4 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020, although he has said this is subject to getting the approval of Congress. The EU has made a legally binding commitment to cut its emissions by 20 per cent over the same period. It has also said it would increase the cut to 30 per cent if other countries committed to “comparable action”.
Washington tonight attempted to demonstrate it was serious about tackling climate change by announcing new federal powers to regulate greenhouse gases on the grounds that they were endangering the health of Americans. This technically allows Mr Obama to override Congress and impose carbon cuts but, in practice, he is more likely to use the new powers as a bargaining chip to persuade enough senators to pass a bill enforcing the 4 per cent target.
Andreas Carlgren, Sweden’s environment minister and the EU’s main negotiator under the rotating presidency, said the targets proposed by the US and China were too low to qualify as comparable action and therefore the EU would not strengthen its 20 per cent target.
“If
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
LOL. Pot calling the kettle...
We at least have a good constitution that is ignored. Europe has a constitution that is totalitarian and elitist as written.
Listen to yourself. Look at what we've become. So, now we're reduced to 'But American socialism is better than European socialism'.
We have become a caricature of ourselves and of reality. When this happened, I'm not exactly certain but it happened in the past and we are just living out the ramifications. It was game over a long time ago. We're just avatars trapped on the screen now thinking we're in control of something. Thinking we're still relevent.
We're just run of the mill socialists now, Comrade.
That's patently untrue. I think it was a Swiss pharma company that developed a drug,administered during pregnancy, that prevents tail growth in the foetus. Administration of the drug was made mandatory by fiat from the clowns in Brussels.
“We’re just run of the mill socialists now, Comrade.
What’s this “we”? There is far more opposition within the United States to Obama than opposition to Brussels in Europe.
Europeans seem to WANT to be ruled.
“If I recall, that’s from a not very good film.”
You have clearly lost touch with America. LOL. Of course, Americans don’t have “flatmates”.
“The head of the Ruling Political Party of the USA- Howard Dean- was just gloating the other day that socialism has finally defeated capitalism.”
Their turn will come.
And that's why he's still a junior senator from Illinois?
Whatever.
Europeans seem to WANT to be ruled.
Ditto for us. We have put a man in the White House who has taken control of industry, sought to stifle the news media, is trying to institute social medicine, is trying to make us beholden to the IPCC as a form of world government, who bows and grovels before world leaders...
And conservatives are content because 'at least he hasn't come for our guns yet'.
You are exemplifying my point for me. We- Americans- have MASSIVE problems!!! We are dying as a nation- right now!!! As we sit here and argue. And all freepers can think of to do is make imbecilic adolescent comments about the Europeans! (who are just people too- like us!)
F*CK the EUROPEANS! I don't have time for worrying about the Europeans. It doesn't make me feel better to sit here and say 'Oh, the Euroweenies don't wash!' or 'but they're so socialist!' when our country is dying!!! We have problems that are much worse.
What if Washington showed up right now and asked us why we didn't even fight for our nation? What would we tell him? Well, at least our brand of socialism is better than the European brand?
I tell you what buddy- turn on the football game, it's Monday night yeah? Just go back to your American dream. Get a can of beer and kick back in the lazy boy. Obama, he doesn't really matter. He'll be gone in 3 more years. And everything will just go back to being hunky dory. He simply hoodwinked honest, hardworking Americans. All this stuff he's doing, we'll just roll it all back come 2012.
Yeah, that's the ticket...
What was that STUPID American television series about then? What was it called? Friends or something like that? They looked like flatmates to me- or maybe I misunderstood the plot? You're saying Americans don't share housing as a way to reduce expenses? That's stupid. I've seen people in America doing that. I've done it myself.
Their turn will come.
Right. And then it all goes back to the way it used to be. Dream on. That's the problem. Too many people living in a dream world.
Look, you can say I have lost touch with America. This is ABSOLUTELY true. The America I was born into and was raised in was not a socialist nation. It was not a nation of people clamoring for the government to take care of them. It was not a nation ripped in half.
Yeah, I've lost touch. I'm not 'down with the New Improved America'.
And I don't want to be. Enjoy your version of America. I'll take mine any day of the week (my version kicks your version's ass any day of the week).
“And conservatives are content because ‘at least he hasn’t come for our guns yet’.”
Who is content? Have you missed the marches? CONSERVATIVES protesting!?!
Oh wow! You’re protesting? Wow, that’ll show ‘em. They’ll give our country back to us for sure now.
Maybe somebody should have just told Washington, Adams, Jefferson et al ‘you don’t need to fight, just have a jolly big protest!’.
LOL. But, but, we’re protesting. LOFL! I’m one bad haircut away from losing my mind.
“Maybe somebody should have just told Washington, Adams, Jefferson et al ‘you don’t need to fight, just have a jolly big protest!’.”
You might want to read up a bit on the 30 or so years before the American Revolution.
I’m well read thanks.
You think Obama is going to go away because of a protest?
You think all the Americans who want socialism are going to change their minds because we come up with a nifty chant for the Tea Party?
Obama isn’t the problem. He is simply an outcome of something that is much deeper. Obama is in office not because Americans were misled. He is in office because that’s what Americans wanted.
Now, how do you cut that sort of rot out of you when it’s like a cancer that has spread throughout the entire system? A protest isn’t enough. Calling the Europeans ‘smelly’ doesn’t fix anything either. But maybe in a really childish way it makes people feel good for a few seconds?
The problem won’t get fixed as long as we are suffering from this delusion of ‘We’re America! We’re A-O-Freaking-K! Because we’re the USA!’
No, man. We’re not ok. We are in really, really bad shape. And it’s not like Obama losing the next election is going to fix that. It’s much deeper than just that and the problem will never get fixed as long as people pretend it’s not there- or as long as they pretend it’s only those rascally Europeans who are to blame and we’ll be ok as soon as we get ‘our guy’ in office.
Now, you can defend the state of things in the USA all you want. But not me. I’m calling it like I see it. We are in a world of sh!t.
“I’m well read thanks.”
Clearly not on the period I mentioned, or you would’ve noted the protests, riots, and various missions sent to Parliament. That went on for YEARS.
Whatever newbie. You just keep dreaming. You think we have YEARS? LOL.
But you know... The band kept playing even as the Titanic sank.
I’m finished with you. Say what you want and piss off.
“Whatever newbie. You just keep dreaming. You think we have YEARS? LOL.”
You compare us to the Founders and say the didn’t protest, they acted. Well, they DID protest. They exhausted every legal angle open to them before actual war.
Ok. Let me ask you something. Why are you arguing with me?
Is it because you think America is in great shape and you think I am wrong for saying how screwed up we are right now?
Is that it?
Exactly what is your point? That we’re doing ok with Obama? I don’t get what you’re arguing with me about. Is it my original post? Which post did you originally take issue with and say to yourself ‘You know, I don’t like this Prodigal Butthole guy, I’m going to argue with him’?
Which post and why? You’re mad at me for loving my country? For being angry at the rest of my countrymen for wanting socialism so bad they came within a whisker of electing Al F-—king Gore and then when they got the chance again they go for Obama? You angry at me for not liking that or what?
What exactly is your problem with me?
“Ok. Let me ask you something. Why are you arguing with me?”
You’ve made the statement that WE - as in all of us - support Obama and socialism without complaint or opposition. That is false.
That, and you don’t like Stripes. Seriously, man. That’s un-American. LOL
You see, this is what I'm talking about. A movie is fantasy. It's not America. It's a fiction of Hollywood's imagination. I'm not un-American for disliking a freaking film. And don't tell me to lighten up because of that.
And yes... By the logic of Free Republic, if one European is a socialist, they're all socialists. If one European doesn't like Bush- that means they all hate Bush (since hating Bush has now come to be equated with hating America). You can see this on literally any thread to do with with Europe. Freepers just want to be pissed off at someone but who we ought to be pissed off with is Americans. We can gnash our teeth at the Europeans but this is just a form of cognitive dissonance, a reluctance towards self-loathing (even if it is justified).
This is the logic or Free Republic and I am simply applying it to us. I mean, why should we be spared being colored by the same brush we like to paint others with?
We elected Obama. He is our president. Therefore (by FR logic) we all love him. We all want socialism.
You don't like that logic? Then the next time you see a freeper making a stupid blanket statement that covers several hundred million Europeans- the type of blanket statement that YOU yourself do not want to be judged with- take issue with them and argue with them about it. Otherwise you're engaging in a form of hypocrisy.
I'm just calling a spade a spade. We elected Obama yet we think the Europeans are stupid for giving him a Nobel prize- as if all the Europeans got together and decided to do that.
F--k Stripes. F--- Hollywood. F--- any American who is content and happy with Obama and if this includes you well, that's your problem not mine.
“You see, this is what I’m talking about. A movie is fantasy. It’s not America. It’s a fiction of Hollywood’s imagination. I’m not un-American for disliking a freaking film. And don’t tell me to lighten up because of that.”
In trying times, the only thing that keeps a man going is having a sense of humor. Perhaps you should look into it. Driving yourself into an asylum is not going to help your country one bit, is it?
“You don’t like that logic? Then the next time you see a freeper making a stupid blanket statement that covers several hundred million Europeans- the type of blanket statement that YOU yourself do not want to be judged with- take issue with them and argue with them about it. Otherwise you’re engaging in a form of hypocrisy.”
Where is this active anti-EU community?
Go piss up a rope. maybe this is all fun and games to you. Not to me.
There was a time when Texas was a sovereign nation. Not any more. California used to be a republic. Not anymore. We started out as sovereign states. One day, my home state (Georgia) and others decided to withdraw from a union they thought was voluntary. They were told quite forcibly- 'No'.
We look at our union as a great thing.
But this same logic doesn't work across the Atlantic.
Just pointing it out.
I did already say my line about going to piss up a rope yeah? Ok. Well, that's me about finished then. You have a great life. Enjoy your new and improved country.
“Go piss up a rope. maybe this is all fun and games to you. Not to me.”
All that anger won’t help you in what’s coming, son. It’ll just eat you up. Just a thought. Have a nice day.
“What was that STUPID American television series about then? What was it called? Friends or something like that? They looked like flatmates to me- or maybe I misunderstood the plot?”
Yes, it was a stupid show. Americans use the term “roommates”. We have “apartments”, not “flats”.
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