Wednesday, May 17, 2006

So much for fixing that!

India said on Tuesday that poor nations had to give priority to ending poverty rather than fighting global warming at 189-nation U.N. climate talks criticized by environmentalists as a rambling talk shop.

Nations from Papua New Guinea to Iceland gave speeches during a novel two-day U.N. "dialogue" trying to bridge huge policy divides about how to slow a rise in temperatures that many scientists say could trigger catastrophic climate changes.

In one of the most forceful talks, India told rich nations to take the lead in cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases from fossil fuels, saying India needed more energy to end poverty for the 35 percent of its people living on less than a dollar a day.

"Removal of poverty is the greater immediate imperative" than global warming, Prodipto Ghosh, Secretary of India's Environment Ministry, told the 1,600 delegates.


Read more here.

Doug and Claudia made the plea to "do something. Anything. Please." I fear unless China and India sign-on, we're pretty much screwed. After all, as more than one third of the world's population moves up to First World consumption and wealth without curtailing the similar appetite that the US has for energy, we're pretty much screwed. The First World combined population is somewhere around 1/4 of India and China's...

Make sure that you are at least 35m above sea level for any long term housing plans.

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