After eight years of resisting cap-and-trade proposals as offered in the Kyoto Protocol, for instance, America is back as a leader on the issue of climate change and will press ahead with policy changes that address environmental and economic challenges that are now interlinked, according to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) Global Warming
Kerry, the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made those comments in speaking with reporters during a conference call Tuesday. The call was organized to address an upcoming climate change conference (Dec. 1-12) in Poznan, Poland.
With scientific evidence weighing in favor of the idea that global warming is man made, it is imperative for the global community to shift away from dependence on fossil fuels and to a green economy as a matter of survival, Kerry said.
You cant be half-pregnant on this issue, he said. You cant accept the science and say yes, global warming is man made and yes, climate change is happening faster than the scientists in fact thought it was going to, and then not accept the same scientific conclusions with respect to what that impact is and what were already witnessing.
Kerry expressed concern over melting ice caps, rising ocean levels, weather pattern changes, forest migration, agricultural changes and potential draughts.
The PolandClimate Change Conference should be viewed as a steeping stone to help set up a framework for future discussions and is not meant as a substantive negotiation session, said Kerry. The December meetings will instead lay the groundwork for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark where a treaty could be produced, he said.
We cannot repeat the mistakes of the Kyoto Protocol where disagreement over the structure resulted in the president signing a treaty the Senate would never ratify, Kerry said. We intend to be a full partner with the administration in defining the contours of a global agreement and leading the global community in addressing this challenge.
With President-elect Barack Obama coming out openly in favor of a cap-and-trade system in combination with additional votes in the House and Senate, Kerry said he is encouraged about the future prospects for climate change legislation.
Its a very exciting time, its a moment weve been waiting for, for many of us, for some period of time well, for eight years to be blunt, he said. We intend to pick up the baton and really run with it here.
Under cap and trade, electric utilities, manufacturers, and other firms would be limited in the amount of carbon dioxide they could release in the air. Companies that emitted more than the limit prescribed to them would then have to buy carbon allowances in a government-contrived system from companies that had carbon credits. Those companies would largely include green firms that are environmentally friendly in their production and what that they produce, e.g., possibly solar-powered generators.
The Kyoto Protocol of 1997, named after the Japanese city where it was formulated, called for participating countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by about 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012.
In a video message to governors attending a two-day summit (Nov. 18-19) on global warming in California, organized by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the states Republican governor, Barack Obama outlined his own federal proposal.
We will establish strong annual targets that set us on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 level by 2020 and reduce them an additional 80 percent by 2050, Obama said. Further, we will invest $15 billion each year to catalyze private sector efforts to build a clean energy future.
Kerry commended Obama for setting a specific goal and target for 2050 and said that in the intervening years it would be important for law-makers to recognize the reality of the science.
In the question-and-answer session on the conference call, Kerry was asked about the possibility of obtaining concessions from countries like China and India, which are also reliant on fossil fuels as an engine of economic growth.
Kerry said that would be a challenge in light of current economic conditions. But he was optimistic about the prospect for international partnerships. Because the science is compelling, industrialized nations like the United States must be willing to make investments that will translate into better economic returns over the long term and a safer environment, he said.
Negotiations with the Chinese have been particularly difficult over the years, Kerry observed. However, he did detect and a change in attitude the U.N. environmental summit held last year in Bali, Indonesia.
Ive been meeting with the China delegation going all the way back to the first meetings, he said. Usually, we just stare at each other and sort of have conversation, which was not a conversation. They just wouldnt hear of anything. They saw any of this effort as a Western conspiracy to prevent them from growing.
But that changed in Bali, Kerry recalled, when one environmental minister from communist China arrived ahead of his delegation to discuss new initaitives.
There is now a significant transformation effort underway that involves green roof houses and emissions controls, Kerry said. The leadership in developed countries such as China now recognize that there is a genuine danger connected with climate change, he observed.
#1
"With scientific evidence weighing in favor of the idea that global warming is man made"
Lurch, there's a big difference between man causing and man contributing, and the jury is still out as to whether man-made is a drop in the bucket or something more. Also, aren't you true believers calling it "climate change" now?
We cannot repeat the mistakes of the Kyoto Protocol where disagreement over the structure resulted in the president signing a treaty the Senate would never ratify,
Did Clinton sign? I believe the Senate warned him off. I thought Gore just over-extended himself at Kyoto and then the Senate overwhelmingly clipped his wings. Well, I'm sure you're not bothered by technical details. None of you advocates are into details.
#3
... it is imperative for the global community to shift away from dependence on fossil fuels and to a green economy as a matter of survival, Kerry said.
Does this mean your family will sell the 5 SUV's you own?
#4
It takes 6000 gallons of jet fuel to fill up John and mamma Teresa's Gulfstream 5. That's 10 years worth of gasoline usage by the average family. John the Environmentalist burns that in a weekend.
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2008 19:27 Comments ||
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#5
So Senator when do you plan to introduce the Kyoto Treaty for ratification to the whole body of the Senate?
Canvassing Board members stressed that they weren't rejecting the arguments made by Franken's attorneys, and they made it clear that they expect the issue to go to court.
The state Canvassing Board, a panel of five arbiters charged with determining the winner in the overtime election tussle between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic rival Al Franken, unanimously voted this morning to deny the Franken campaign's request that rejected absentee ballots be included in the recount.
During the discussion, the board members stressed that they weren't rejecting the merits of the arguments made by Franken's attorneys. They also made it clear they expect the issue to be litigated separately from the recount procedure.
Also this morning, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who chairs the Canvassing Board, said that attorneys from each campaign have said they can find a way to trim the pile of ballots being challenged in counties across the state. Combined, the two sides are so far contesting more than 3,600 ballots.
"This would be a very great benefit to the Canvassing Board and the citizens of the state," Ritchie said early on at the board's meeting this morning.
Tuesday night, the Coleman campaign said that its senior counsel, Fritz Knaak, acknowledged in a fax to the Franken campaign that observers for both sides were being overly aggressive in challenging ballots "in a mounting game of ballot challenging that serves no useful purpose."
"This is not the way the recount process was intended to work," the correspondence continued, "and we are trying the patience and goodwill of election officials and volunteers throughout the state.
"While the Franken campaign began [Tuesday] morning challenging 25 ballots in one Sherburne County precinct, the vast majority without merit, it's obvious that our campaign volunteers felt the need to match these growing and unnecessary challenges throughout the day."
Knaak called the back-and-forth "an artificial game which has virtually no bearing on the outcome of this recount, as we know that the vast majority of these challenges will be rejected before we even get to the Canvassing Board on December 16th."
Knaak then asked Franken's camp to "join us ... in standing down in the game of ballot challenge one-upsmanship."
Rejected ballots
The Canvassing Board then turned its attention this morning to taking up Franken's request to include rejected absentee ballots in the final tally.
At stake are an unknown number of absentee ballots, out of several thousands rejected, that Franken's campaign says weren't counted because of administrative mistakes.
The board gave Franken a glimmer of hope after voting his motion down. Members agreed to seek legal advice and meet again soon to decide whether local election officials should sort through the rejected ballots. That would help determine whether any that were actually accepted didn't get counted and whether any rejections fell outside the rules for disqualification. But the board didn't speculate as to what would happen with those ballots.
At a subsequent news briefing, Franken recount attorney Marc Elias said the campaign is not going to appeal the Canvassing Board's decision. He said the camp was disappointed in the ruling but encouraged that it left open the possibility of sorting the ballots.
Elias declined to say whether the campaign is headed to court. He did say, "I'm certainly not going to take off the table the possibility of an election contest."
Coleman ended Election Night ahead of Franken but well within the margin needed to trigger a mandatory recount. The hand recount of every ballot, occurring in offices across the state, has done little to clarify who the winner might be as it nears completion.
The Star Tribune has analyzed reasons for absentee ballots being rejected in 28 counties, and only Ramsey and Itasca specifically cite election officials' error. In Ramsey County, it appeared that 53 rejections were tied to administrative error.
After the full recount is done, the board will meet on Dec. 16, review disputed ballots and assemble a final report. The board aims to be done by Dec. 19, but it will take as long as needed. However, even after the board's work is done, court challenges are possible.
The Canvassing Board is chaired by Ritchie and includes Minnesota Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, Associate Justice G. Barry Anderson and Ramsey County District Judges Kathleen Gearin and Edward Cleary. Magnuson and Anderson were appointed by GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Gearin was elected to the bench in 1986, and Cleary was appointed in 2002 by Independent Gov. Jesse Ventura.
Who is Timothy Geithner that upon news of his impending nomination by Barack Obama, Matt Drudge would wonder -- in huge headline type -- if he was the man would "save the economy?"
Timothy Franz Geithner. New York Federal Reserve President. Technocrat. Bureaucrat. Career civil servant. Didn't like Paulson's financial regulation overhaul. Engineered the Bear Stearns "rescue." Heartily agreed that Lehman shouldn't be saved. Kinda thought Lehman should be saved. Worked at Henry Kissinger's consulting firm. A moderate Republican turned registered independent turned Obamacrat. Has a master's degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins. Put together the AIG rescue plan. Just 14 days younger than Obama. Dartmouth guy. Has lived in Japan, India and Thailand. Had a "general understanding" of the complex issues involved when Long-Term Capital imploded (via Alan Greenspan.). Worked at the Treasury department under Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers. Faced a "steep learning curve" when he came to the Fed (via Gerald Corrigan.). Good softball player. Self-deprecating sense of humor. Thinks income inequality and entitlements and too little saving are big problems. Not an economist. Never run a company. Married with a couple of kids. Surfs.
Enough answers for you? I dunno, I still have a few questions I would love to ask him. "Please describe your role during the the demise of Lehman." "How has the AIG bailout been good for taxpayer?" "What role did did Fannie and Freddie play in the subprime mortgage bubble?" "What role has government policy played in creating the housing and credit crisis?" "How does tax policy affect economic growth?" "What should be done to fix Social Security?" "Should the government more directly aid homeowners?" "What is the growth potential of the U.S. economy?" "Should unions represent more workers and how would that affect productivity?" "Should China be pushed to strengthen its currency." "Does America need a stronger dollar?" "How do budget deficits affect real interest rates."
But this is the most important one: "Mr. Geithner, the job of the New York Fed is to -- now I am quoting its own web site -- 'supervise and regulate financial institutions in the Second District [Wall Street]. Its primary objective is to maintain safe and competitive U.S. and global banking systems.' You have been in your current post since 2003 and during that time the U.S. financial system has come close to complete disintegration. Why do you deserve a promotion?"
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008 14:25 ||
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As the U.S. Senate contest lurches forward, with nearly 80 percent of the ballots recounted and Norm Coleman clinging to a roughly 200-vote lead over Al Franken, a resolution finally looks to be on the horizon. But as events have repeatedly proven over the last three weeks, nothing is as simple as it seems when a Senate seat that potentially could give Democrats a fillibuster-proof 60-seat majority is on the line.
All eyes will now turn to the five-member statewide canvassing board as it meets Wednesday morning to deal with the thorny question of whether to consider absentee ballots that were rejected by local election officials. The Franken campaign believes that the panel must do so in order to compile a complete and credible vote tally; the Coleman campaign argues such rejected ballots are outside the body's jurisdiction.
But no matter the canvassing board's decision, the issue is likely to ultimately end up in court. "I'm expecting somebody to be filing a motion in court by the end of day tomorrow," says David Schultz, a political science and law professor at Hamline University. Schultz figures the losing side, whether the Democrats or Republicans, will immediately seek a temporary restraining order or injunction barring the decision from being implemented.
The only real question, he believes, is whether the jilted campaign will turn to federal or state courts for relief. The Franken campaign already has a case pending in Ramsey County District Court related to the rejected absentee ballots, but that doesn't mean it's the only possible venue for litigation. "Clearly the Franken campaign has done a really good job raising both federal and state claims, giving it options to go to either or both of the court systems at the same time," Schultz says.
The rejected absentee ballots are not the only issue that seems ripe for litigation. The challenged ballots, which now number more than 3,000, could also prove irresistible to the teams of attorneys assembled by both sides. Schultz says that the key for whichever campaign looks likely to end up on the short end of the tally will be to keep the canvassing board from certifying the results. Until that happens a winner can't be sworn in to office come January. "Whoever's behind has every motivation, once it looks like it's clear that they may loose this one, to prevent the canvassing board from acting," he notes.
Perhaps the most intriguing wrinkle to consider when looking at possible litigation is the makeup of the canvassing board. Minnesota Supreme Court justices Eric Magnuson and G. Barry Anderson are both serving on the panel. This means that they would need to recuse themselves from any litigation related to the senate recount that comes before the state's top court. Given that both were GOP appointees, this would seem to be an unwelcome development for the Coleman campaign. "It gets two potentially partisan Republicans off, although I don't think they're that partisan myself," Schultz says.
If the contest drags on into January with no resolution, the opportunity to fill the seat would likely fall to Gov. Tim Pawlenty. That undoubtedly would result in Coleman being re-appointed to his post. But it would only be, at best, a temporary solution. If there's no resolution, a new election would need to be held next November to determine who would fill the final five years of the term. "We'd have to run through the whole damn thing all over again," says Schultz.
That's a prospect that should be terrifying to Minnesotans of all political stripes.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008 14:24 ||
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From a Nov 24 email to the Volokh.com site from a Constitutional scholar.
The Emoluments Clause of Article I, section 6 provides "No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time." As I understand it, President Bush's executive order from earlier this year "encreased" the "Emoluments" (salary) of the office of Secretary of State. Last I checked, Hillary Clinton was an elected Senator from New York at the time. Were she to be appointed to the civil Office of Secretary of State, she would be being appointed to an office for which "the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased" during the time for which she was elected to serve as Senator. The plain language of the Emoluments Clause would thus appear to bar her appointment ... if the Constitution is taken seriously (which it more than occasionally isn't on these matters, of course).
#5
To leftists, the Constitution is a living document. Besides, Bush shredded the Constitution for the inmates at Gitmo, so anything that is in the constitution that is inconvenient can be safely ignored.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/26/2008 14:56 Comments ||
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#6
Clinton might offer to take the office for say a dollar; then the emoluments from Senator to Secretary of State would not be increased. As has been said, these are liberals and they will try to do as they damn well please. They think the Constitution as are the Ten Commandments mere guides for behavior and not binding but subject to loose interpretation. Same for laws. In other words, according to liberals, one can pick and choose which ones to adhere to as is convenient.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
After eight years of resisting cap-and-trade proposals as offered in the Kyoto Protocol, for instance, America is back as a leader on the issue of climate change and will press ahead with policy changes that address environmental and economic challenges that are now interlinked, according to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) 
Canvassing Board members stressed that they weren't rejecting the arguments made by Franken's attorneys, and they made it clear that they expect the issue to go to court.
The Star Tribune has analyzed reasons for absentee ballots being rejected in 28 counties, and only Ramsey and Itasca specifically cite election officials' error. In Ramsey County, it appeared that 53 rejections were tied to administrative error.
