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The War on Carbon Heats Up Globally, but Strategies for Change Remain Local
Jeffrey Ball, Wall Street Journal
"Think globally, act locally," urged an environmental mantra popular in the 1970s. That strategy made sense when communities faced visible problems such as polluted streams and smoggy air. It is less effective today, as the world tries to tackle a threat as broad and shapeless as climate change.

For all the talk about a unified response to global warming, what is emerging is a crazy quilt of often-competing local strategies. Different industries, regions and countries are trying to shape policy to stick others with the bulk of the cleanup costs. And when they do act, they are focusing on the part of the problem that is most apparent to them. That's human nature, and it is getting in the way of bailing out Mother Nature on an unprecedented, global scale.

This messiness is about to spill into public view on two levels. Globally, diplomats are convening over the next two weeks in Poland for a climate-change conference, where the official purpose is to protect the planet and the subtext is to shift the cost to someone else. In the U.S., the same basic battle soon will heat up as President-elect Barack Obama, who has pledged to push for deep cuts in U.S. emissions of global-warming gases, moves into the White House.

Local interests are clashing with global interests in many places. In California, proposals for large solar-energy projects in the desert are running into opposition from area residents who don't want to have to look at all those mirrors.
(2 December 2008)

James L. Jones' energy views worry some environmentalists
Tom Hamburger, Los Angeles Times
President-elect Barack Obama introduced James L. Jones Jr. as his national security advisor Monday, he emphasized the retired Marine general's understanding of "the connection between energy and national security."

Obama sees that as a plus, but some environmental groups and global warming activists view Jones' environmental record with suspicion.

Jones will not be responsible for environmental policy, but he has said energy is a vital national security issue. It affects domestic economic stability and international geopolitical relationships, particularly in the oil-rich Middle East.

Jones sits on the board of Chevron Corp., and since March 2007 has been president and chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy, which has been criticized by environmental groups.

"They have a reprehensible record," said Frank O'Donnell, the outspoken leader of Clean Air Watch, of the institute led by Jones.

The institute calls for the immediate expansion of domestic oil and gas production, nuclear energy and clean-coal technology, in addition to investment in renewable and alternative energy sources.
(2 December 2008)

Youth Embarrassed By U.S. Delegation at Climate Conference
Environmental News Service
POZNAN, Poland - The U.S. climate delegation's "sidestepping and recalcitrance" in a news conference on the opening morning of the United Nations annual climate conference in Poznan was denounced by the international climate campaign 350.org and young people from the United States who are attending the meetings.

Lead U.S. negotiator, Ambassador Harlan Watson, representing the outgoing administration of President George W. Bush, dodged reporters' questions about whether or not the United States would commit to emissions targets or funding for developing countries to address global warming.

"It's an embarrassment," said Jamie Henn, 350.org co-founder and a U.S. youth delegate. "With the election of Barack Obama we showed the world we were ready to commit to real action on climate change. All this lame-duck delegation is offering is more of the same."

Henn asked delegates from other countries to ignore the current U.S. delegation and focus on the next administration's commitments.
(1 December 2008)