Climate change could mean the extinction of our species

[russtafa]

Doesn't matter, because you don't know me. You don't know my country. You certainly don't know what hippies are, ever were, or what the movement was about. We changed the mindset of the world in 5 short years. What have you ever done? What? You think I must be stupid because I don't give a shit about the local politics in insignificant places? I don't know or care who the mayor of Podunk Iowa is either. Do you? Why not? They have more world significance than Australia. They produce food for the world, & they're part of America. You don't count. All y'all have is beaches, & you wouldn't even know how to surf if it wasn't for us.

i don't know you sorry hippie but you do seem like an ignorant son of a bitch.i at least try and know what's going on out side of Australia's borders.As for hippies i have kicked enough of the dirty things when i was younger lol.Its usually the smaller western economies that they try these carbon taxes and other lefty scams to see how the public will react to them .NZ or Aussie are used as a test tubes for these political scam merchants and the reward for these scams, for the countries politicians is a job working for the UN i.e Helen Clarke ex PM of New Zealand =one dirty thieving dyke

[trish]

On a more serious note I think its the political arena which is problematic, where expenses are routinely paid for by taxpayers and which revolves around the major summits but where there are also the less publicised, annual, sometimes bi-annual meetings of the various Conferences of the Parties, on Climate Change, Biological Diversity and so on. These involve government officials, UN officials, corporate representatives, and lobbyists and are never held in the same place but moved around the world, at what expense? I guess the difficult of linking government officials from around the world at the same time through video-conferencing is impractical because of time-zones and so on, but the cost must be astronomical.

Exactly.The attendees of the major summits are Government officials, UN officials, corporate representatives and lobbyists. Even [if] the conference concerns Biological Diversity or Arctic Oil Reserves, the attendees represent a wide range of opposing interests. They are there to negotiate in behave of their interests. I never been to one, but I imagine that besides being expensive, it’s gotta be a zoo. Partly why my interest in climate issues stops where the politics begins.

Having been a party in some small scale video conferencing (5 to 10 people) I can testify it’s not easy, reading peoples faces, gauging their reactions to what others are saying, dealing with the one second time delay etc. and then actually coming to a common understanding and negotiating a solution a workable agreement. I think it would be impossible with 50 or 150 officials, ceo’s and lobbyists. Of course it might be a way to keep the ceo’s and lobbyists out.

[hippifried]

The whine about the extravagance of these conferences is just a diversion that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of climate change. Meaningless drivel.

[hippifried]

So Russ... Still don't have anything to say, huh?

[Stavros]

The whine about the extravagance of these conferences is just a diversion that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of climate change. Meaningless drivel.

A bit harsh, Hippifried, after all its in these COPS that the detailed policy recommendations are drawn up which do or don't make it into the major policy statements that the Summits try to reach -and which forms the political consequence of the science. Always assuming that this is the best way to tackle the hard science.

As I have suggested before, it seems to me that the pure science is now taking a back seat to the politics of carbon offsets and taxes, and that is a pity, but someone somewhere is making a handsome profit out of the process, and our taxes are helping to pay for it. Maybe if there was some sense of unified purpose on an issue that affects us all it would not matter so much, but this conference process has been going on since the 1990s and there isn't much to show for it, indivthe idual initiatives that industry has made to reduce carbon emissions appear to have been more successful.

[muh_muh]

i don't know you sorry hippie but you do seem like an ignorant son of a bitch.

thats rich comming from someone whos posts contain nothing but prejudice 99% of the time

Meaningless drivel.

like all of faldurs posts
theres a pattern here

[russtafa]

thats rich comming from someone whos posts contain nothing but prejudice 99% of the time



like all of faldurs posts
theres a pattern here

cool ain't it

[trish]

cool ain't it ...

Naw, just bigoted.

[hippifried]

So... Some delegates use their expense accounts to get laid or to glutton out. The hotels make a profit. The restaurants & bars make a profit. The folks selling tee shirts, souvenirs, trinkets, snacks, & other junk from the kiosks that pop up everywhere make a profit. The carpenters, electricians, communications techs, plummers, etc.., all picked up a few weeks of all the premium paid overtime they could handle getting ready for the event. Hundreds if not thousands of temporary staff are hired. Somebody's making a profit from all those uniforms, along with the ID cards, badges, & nametags for both staff & delegates. The local retailers are open late. The transportation providers, from limos to rickshaws, are non-stop busy. The prostitutes & other service providers are non-stop busy & being picky about their clients. Most prices are up, & there are no discounts to be seen. Etc...

This is pretty much the nature of all summits, conve3ntions, & other large gatherings by whatever name. Even the protesters spend money. Cities clamor, even bid to host these events. They spend mega-bucks building convention centers as bait. The topic of discussion that generated the desire to hold a meeting in the first place, is irrelevant to any of this. Why woud anybody be surprized that the meet & greets over climate change issues are not abnormal? That's a rhetorical question. This isn't any surprize to anybody, or even a big deal outside of the local host economy. The whining is just a bunch of meaningless drivel from the sniveling pecks who try to politicize everything that goes on so they don't have to let on that they can't argue the issue.

Drink up, Shriners!

[Stavros]

In which case, I think I need a double. Try to imagine the Olympics in London...well, no, don't, I don't live there but already I can smell it, and its not carbon.