Copenhagen climate summit: Gordon Brown says 'future of humanity' at stake - Telegraph

Arriving in Copenhagen, Mr Brown said: "Over the next three days the leaders of almost every nation on earth will gather in Copenhagen. Their role; their opportunity; their responsibility: to shape the future of humanity. It is a defining moment." To win around developing nations who are resisting limits on their carbon emissions, Mr Brown could back a deal for rich countries to give more money. He is now preparing to make Britain pay into another international fund to help poor countries limit the amount of their forests they cut down for logging and agriculture. Increasing Britian’s “green” spending is controversial because of the size of the Government’s deficit. As he arrived in Copenhagen, Mr Brown, painted an apocalyptic picture of the consequences of failure at the summit, saying that the world economy would suffer an unprecedented “catastrophe” if temperatures rise too far.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/copenhagen-climate-change-confe/6819390/Copenhagen-climate-summit-Gordon-Brown-says-future-of-humanity-at-stake.html

Naomi Klein: 3 Biggest Blown Opportunities of Obama's Presidency | Politics | AlterNet

No President since FDR has been handed as many opportunities to transform the U.S. into something that doesn't threaten the stability of life on this planet. Is he blowing it? That's from Naomi Klein. She starts the article with the failure to get a groundshaking deal at the Copenhagen summit. If Obama had come to Copenhagen with a transformative commitment to getting the U.S. economy off fossil fuels, the other major emitters would have stepped up. The EU, Japan, China and India all indicated that they were willing to increase their levels of commitment, only if the U.S. took the lead. Instead Obama arrived with embarrassingly low targets and the heavy emitters of the world took their cue from him. But the 3 FAIL's listed are economic, the stimulus package, and bailouts of the auto and banking industry. No President since FDR has been handed as many opportunities to transform the U.S. into something that doesn't threaten the stability of life on this planet.

Article Reference: 

http://www.alternet.org/politics/144720/naomi_klein%3A_3_biggest_blown_opportuni...

Ed Markey, chairman, House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming - - POLITICO.com

“It is vitally important that we show we are no longer turning a blind eye to the problem of climate change,” Markey told POLITICO. “The Obama administration will be able to say to the world, ‘We are no longer going to preach temperance from a bar stool; we are now ready to begin to make a commitment.’” Still it is possible Markey and dozens of other House members would be no-shows, if their presence was needed on Capitol Hill to vote on the health care bill. But if he makes it to Copenhagen with his colleagues, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Markey said, “our message will be that the Congress is committed to partnering with the Obama administration toward the goal of passing historic energy and climate legislation.”

Article Reference: 

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30066.html

Copenhagen climate conference: Emission impossible | Environment | The Guardian

According to this article the defining challenges of our time is climate change and "overcoming poverty" but that formulation leaves out the issue of peak oil aka energy supplies. The global society has gotten addicted to cheap energy, but that cheap energy is soon to become very expensive, which is a major challenge not addressed by the article. The article does a great job of posing these questions: Do we collaborate and act to reach a strong political agreement that both decisively cuts the devastating risks posed by climate change, and rapidly opens up the opportunities offered by low-carbon economic growth? Do we in that way set ourselves to overcome poverty and promote prosperity? Or, do we give way to narrow, short-term interests, quarrelling, lack of ambition and delay, thus allowing the risks to the climate to grow to dangerous levels which will derail development in both rich and poor countries?

Article Reference: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/30/stern-monbiot-copenhagen-deal