CCAN Director Mike Tidwell says stop “going green”

Mike Tidwell, a friend, and the director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, has an Op-Ed for the Washington Post on Sunday titled “To really save the planet, stop going green”.  This is sure to provoke some debate amongst environmentalists.  I agree with some points Mike makes, but I take issue with others.  All in all though, I think its timing is good in that, if there was ever a good time to be an activist and get in your representative’s face about taking action, that time is now.

Hackers attempt to access Canadian Government Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis

I made a post last week about the illegally hacked e-mails from Britain’s climate data centre.  News broke yesterday that there has now been an attempt to hack Canada’s centre.  It looks like the deniers are getting desperate with a deal at Copenhagen within grasp.

“On the heels of the controversial story aboutemails and data stolen by hackers from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, it has now been revealed that individuals posing as network technicians recently attempted to infiltrate another climate data center operated by the Government of Canada.

According to sources at the University of Victoria, two people claiming to be network computer technicians presented themselves at the headquarters of the Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis and tried to gain access to the data servers.

When challenged by an employee, the two individuals hastily left. The timing of this attempted break-in is very suspicious given that it occurred so closely on the heels of the release of hacked emails and data from a similar facility housed at the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in the UK.”

Obama shifts Copenhagen attendence to the End

I think this is a big deal.  Originally, President Obama was going to speak at Copenhagen on December 9th towards the beginning of Copenhagen, but now he’s pushed his attendance and speech back to the end when the final deal will be struck.  He wouldn’t do this if he didn’t think the outcome would be worth standing next to.  Here is the statement from the White House, also posted below.

For Immediate Release

December 04, 2009

Statement from the Press Secretary on the United Nations Climate Change

Conference

The President strongly believes that all nations have a responsibility to combat the threat of climate change. He has already taken unprecedented action to do so at home, including an historic investment in clean energy solutions that will reduce our dependence on oil and create jobs.  Abroad, he has engaged leaders bilaterally and multilaterally on the issue of climate change, and agreed to participate in the climate conference in Copenhagen.

After months of diplomatic activity, there is progress being made towards a meaningful Copenhagen accord in which all countries pledge to take action against the global threat of climate change.  Following bilateral meetings with the President and since the United States announced an emissions reduction target that reflects the progress being made in Congress towards comprehensive energy legislation, China and India have for the first time set targets to reduce their carbon intensity. There has also been progress in advancing the Danish proposal for an immediate, operational accord that covers all of the issues under negotiation, including the endorsement of key elements of this approach by the 53 countries represented at the Commonwealth Summit last weekend.

This week, the President discussed the status of the negotiations with Prime Minister Rudd, Chancellor Merkel, President Sarkozy, and Prime Minister Brown and concluded that there appears to be an emerging consensus that a core element of the Copenhagen accord should be to mobilize $10 billion a year by 2012 to support adaptation and mitigation in developing countries, particularly the most vulnerable and least developed countries that could be destabilized by the impacts of climate change.  The United States will pay its fair share of that amount and other countries will make substantial commitments as well.  In Copenhagen, we also need to address the need for financing in the longer term to support adaptation and mitigation in developing countries.  Providing this assistance is not only a humanitarian imperative – it’s an investment in our common security, as no climate change accord can succeed if it does not help all countries reduce their emissions.

Based on his conversations with other leaders and the progress that has already been made to give momentum to negotiations, the President believes that continued US leadership can be most productive through his participation at the end of the Copenhagen conference on December 18th rather than on December 9th. There are still outstanding issues that must be negotiated for an agreement to be reached, but this decision reflects the President’s commitment to doing all that he can to pursue a positive outcome.  The United States will have representation in Copenhagen throughout the negotiating process by State Department negotiators and Cabinet officials who will highlight the great strides we have made this year towards a clean energy economy.