The Stage is Set for The Copenhagen Climate Talks

Copenhagen is all over the news this week… so what’s the deal with the Climate Conference?  This week our guest blogger, Clayton Bedwell, shares his expertise.

With the largest and most anticipated global climate conference in history kicking off in Copenhagen, here are a few story lines that are shaping expectations:

US & China Ready to Play Ball – Last Wednesday The Obama Administration announced they were ready to take a plan to Copenhagen that would reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions to 17% below 2005 levels, by 2020, and an 83%  reduction by 2050.  One day later China announced a plan to slow the growth of greenhouse gasses by 2020.  Clearly the US and China have realized that the age of running from global climate reform has come to an end, but given how little both countries are willing to sacrifice in relation to their European counterparts, its hard to imagine that the Copenhagen Climate Talks will yield the profound results that was once expected.

East Angelia University & The Emergence of “Climategate” – Last week a hacker gained access and released thousands of emails from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at East Angelia University in Britain. These correspondences reveal the withholding of data contradictory to global warming as well as the manipulation of data to make global climate issues appear more severe.   Unfortunately, the content of these emails wasn’t the only problem, the fact that they were between many of the worlds leading climatologist ensure that the ripple effects of this scandal will be very present at the Copenhagen Talks, and likely long after as well.  While climate experts insist that the story, and relevant content of the email, is overblown, anti-climate reform groups around the world have stumbled upon the perfect story to pressure leaders into a more reserved and conservative approach in Copenhagen.

Posted by Clayton