Common Sense Observations

Copenhagen Climate Talks – Epic Fail

Its official name is the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference. The conference was held from the 7^th of December, 2009 through the 18^th of December, 2009 at Bella Center in beautiful and historic Copenhagen, Denmark. No less than 192 countries were scheduled to attend the Copenhagen conference, but as many as 15,000 participants were expected.

The mission, or objective, of the Copenhagen conference, also referred to as COP15, is best summed up by the Danish government in their welcome package to participants in the Copenhagen climate conference:

“The world is facing a major challenge. We cannot continue using fossil fuels the way we do today. Scientists have laid out the risks we face and it has become clearer than ever that now is the time to take serious action on climate change. If we do not act today, the opportunity will not only slip out of our hands but it will also become much more expensive to carry out the necessary low-carbon transition in the future.

As the host of COP15, we, the Danish Government, will do our utmost to create common ground for a coherent global response to this challenge. The task is daunting – but our mission is clear. We need to agree on an ambitious, global agreement in Copenhagen that meets the challenge set by science.”

Today is December 18^th, 2009. President Obama just delivered a special address to the participants in the Copenhagen climate conference – the ones who are still there, that is. The reason the president spoke was because thus far, the Copenhagen climate conference has gone nowhere and done nothing. The president’s intent was to jumpstart the conference, again, for the final day of discussions. At this writing, the president’s speech, like the Copenhagen climate conference itself, has been a dismal failure.

I shouldn’t really say that the Copenhagen climate conference has done nothing and gone nowhere. A lot of leaders of countries have managed to severely irritate the leaders of other countries. Perhaps most notably, President Obama roiled Chinese officials with his remarks about monitoring greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). And the Copenhagen climate conference itself has left a Sasquatch-sized carbon footprint.

So what message have the leaders of our world’s countries sent to the people of their countries? If nothing else, they have definitely signaled that the global warming problem is not so bad after all. Of course, this seems a clear contradiction to the comments made by the Danish government in the statements above. And it is also in denial of some pretty substantial science.

Before the Copenhagen climate conference, people could be put into one of three categories regarding global warming: 1) I believe it! 2) I’m just not sure about it. 3) No way! Something else I’m sure the Copenhagen climate conference has accomplished is to shift many of the I’m just not sure about it group over to the No way group. No telling what affect the Copenhagen climate conference fiasco has had on the I believe it! group.

We’re told that global warming will mean, essentially, the end of civilization and life as we know it. Flooded coastal areas and islands, drought, severe storms, famine – the list of the horrendous consequences of global warming just goes on and on. We’re also told that if corrective action is not taken immediately, it will be too late. Yet the Copenhagen climate conference has fully failed to accomplish anything productive.

I think the message we are being sent by the failure of the Copenhagen climate conference is perhaps that this whole global warming issue/concern has been trumped up to cause fear and facilitate further, greater controls on world populations.

Closing note: It has just been announced that the delegates are now leaving Copenhagen and the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference behind – with no useful agreements achieved.