Re: [asa] Bali

The quotes I used in another attempt to answer Randy's question
apparently tripped our filter. Could we instead of having to look at
our quotes and see if there are offending words instead just ban the
people who continually abuse our list? So, I will just give my
analysis without most of the quotes, hoping that this time it goes
through.

On Dec 17, 2007, at 7:42 PM, Randy Isaac wrote:

> What did you all think of the Bali meeting? Was the US move
> significant or a minor gesture?
> Was there anything new in the denier letter at http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=164002
> ?
>
> Randy
>

The answer is found here in a massive 3000-word piece in WaPo. It
describes a turf war between State and DoE but also more importantly
gives a description of an administration whose views are "evolving"
concerning climate change.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122803046.html

The turf war described in the piece confused the delegates as shown in
Thomas Friedman's op-ed piece in the NYT. He described the meeting as
the technocrats "got it" yet the policy promoted was no different.
Friedman (and the other delegates at the conference) concluded that
the technocrats were not reflective of the administration.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/opinion/19friedman.html

But, if you look deeper into the WaPo piece the technocrats at Bali
are slowly becoming reflective of an evolution of belief within the
administration. People from both within and without of the
administration note an evolving change of views.

> "They are more engaged in thinking about this in a way they were not
> before," said Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense, an
> advocacy group, who talks with WH officials. "That leads me to think
> things are still fluid there. The current public position is not
> what it needs to be, but I don't have the sense that it's cemented
> into place."

> The president seemed to be moving along with elements of his party.
> During a private meeting with historians to talk about various
> issues a few months later, according to a person in the room, the
> president confided that while he still thought Kyoto was
> fundamentally flawed, he regretted the manner in which he repudiated
> it -- too abrupt, too defiant and too negative without offering an
> alternative. The president also tapped as Treasury secretary Henry
> M. Paulson Jr., Goldman Sachs's chief executive and a committed
> environmentalist.
>
> Krupp saw the president in [2006] at an environmental documentary
> screening at the WH. "He was definitely in a different place," Krupp
> said. "He was saying, 'Just because I didn't go forward with Kyoto
> doesn't mean I don't want to do something.' That's when I detected
> there really was an evolution going on."
>
> Aides detected it, too. Drafting a new National Security Strategy
> that spring, officials wrote a chapter on global threats such as
> climate change. "Merely expressing our opposition to Kyoto wasn't
> sufficient. There should be a framework for something more," said
> Peter D. Feaver, a National Security Council staffer who led the
> drafting. "By that point, the evolution of thinking was underway. I
> don't remember anyone pushing back."
>
> Some ... said they have picked up hints from the president's aides
> that he might sign a ... cap-and-trade bill with a reasonable
> timetable and economic safeguards.
>
> "The private conversations have been very encouraging," said Rep.
> Rich Boucher. "We believe if we produce a bill that reflects our
> criteria, I personally think the president would sign it."
>
> [DoE renewable energy head] Connaughton had no comment on that but
> said in an interview that a new phase is beginning: "You ask, why
> now? Well, the convergence has finally happened, both internally and
> externally. Everybody's ready for the next step."
>
Randy, it looks like your friend at FotF will get more and more lonely
as everyone -- the re publican party, evangelicals, and the current
administration -- are leaving him and other climate change deniers
behind. Current candidates for president also are moving on, seeing
through the greediness of the denier agenda. Note that a re publican
candidate on Fox News Sunday has called the Club for Growth the Club
for Greed. While the context of the quote was tax policy the same
could be said about the p olitics of climate change. The jig is up.
I'm quite optimistic for the coming new year.

Rich Blinne (Member ASA)

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Received on Mon Dec 31 12:02:50 2007