Tuesday
Dec222009
Copenhagen Climate Summit: Scott Lucas on Al Jazeera's "Inside Story"
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 11:32
On Sunday, I was on Al Jazeera English's "Inside Story" to discuss whether the agreements at the Copenhagen summit on climate change offered any grounds for optimism. The other panellists were Daniela Vincenti-Mitchener, the managing editor of EurActiv, the European Union's information website, and Vandana Shiva, an ecologist and environmental activist.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUgARv_yKs4[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUgARv_yKs4[/youtube]
Reader Comments (9)
I thought you and Sananda were good at presenting your points - much better than the other guest. For the sake of argument, here's a rather interesting alternative view to that of the carbon reductionists' offered by Nathan Myhrvoldon on FAREED ZAKARIA GPS this Sunday. Myhrvoldon is the former chief technology officer of Microsoft and studied geophysics, has a master's in mathematical economics and a Ph.D. in physics.
Transcript:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0912/20/fzgps.01.html
Video:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/podcasts/fareedzakaria/site/2009/12/20/gps.podcast.12.20.cnn
Catherine,
Much appreciated --- when I get a moment away from Xmas shopping, will read and watch!
S.
Scott,
Do I detect a small "twang" in your voice!!?? You have been outed and we all now know your house has wheels. That has got to be problem navigating the streets of London--maybe should get one of those with an outboard motor as well!!! Sorry couldn't resist sending you a jab. Good job.
Did you wince when the one lady brought up Sudan to support her position. The Sudan rep Lumumba Di-aping said at the meeting:
‘This deal is devoid of any sense of responsibility or morality ‘It is a solution based on the same values that funnelled six million people in Europe into furnaces,’
Hypocrisy alert! Wow no mention of the genocide in Darfur but of course we can allued to the old Islamist canard of tying the Jews to everything wrong. Second hypocrisy alert--have we not hard the regime in Sudan state the Holocaust never took place? Here is a link to the article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1237228/Anger-delegates-Holocaust-jibe-climate-deal--country-shares-62bn-bonanza.html. One would think this guy should pay attention to his own problems instead of blasting everyone else. After all his regime is the single largest recipient of UN Food Aid almost every year. Gee what do they do with the billions of oil they siphon off the lands of the Christian south? Oh but of course everyone else is to blame even if they are feeding your people!!!
Thx
Bill
Two Points
1. One thing we are forgetting: We are dealing with a phenomenon that exists in theory and not in reality (man-made global warming).
2. Despite the successes of the capitalist system of the last 300 years, we have not achieved much technologically. Our reliance on fossil fuels will continue into the next century. The American automotive industry experimented with nuclear power in the 1950s and it was too controversial. Also, solar power in the 1980s, and that proved insufficient. All that is left today is 'clean' coal and natural gas (shale fracking). Nuclear power is too controversial, even in Europe. Germany is a good example of that -- SPD-Green coalition of the late 1990s-early 00s.
But I do agree with Dr. Lucas: we have to limit consumption. I think one way to do that is for people in developed countries to become for frugal. We must become THRIFT-BASED societies. We need to scale down our wants to those which are economically and ecologically sustainable. Unfortunately, this also involves a radical change in Western values -- cultural values, and also class anxieties, and not just day to day habits. These things are very difficult to overcome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7OHG7tHrNM
http://wiki.gmnext.com/wiki/index.php/GM_Sunraycerhttp://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://americanhistory.si.edu/ONTHEMOVE/img/media/xl/503.jpg&imgrefurl=http://americanhistory.si.edu/ONTHEMOVE/collection/image_503.html&usg=__J-RJVZHWtNqBmoenUmMVJyQUVTk=&h=321&w=480&sz=19&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=mCSmZc0ue4KJ7M:&tbnh=86&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgm%2Bsunraycer%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1R2GGIT_en%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Nucleon
I believe that the biggest problem affecting humanity is that we humans think we are above nature. ( Religions are very much to blame for that idea). People even use the word "nature" as though it is something relating to the animal/vegetable world, but which is somewhat distant from the human world.
What happens in Nature when a species overbreeds???? Excessive consumption is a problem - but only because it is combined with too many people on the planet. The human species will continue - nature itself will see to that, but it may be in a format that we don't like.
Barry
Quote -- "I believe that the biggest problem affecting humanity is that we humans think we are above nature. ( Religions are very much to blame for that idea)."
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The DPRK's Juche philosophy is no different. In fact, this happens to be one of the core tenets of Juche ideology, as well as ATHEISM.
Dave
That is true - the concept is "probably" inherent in all human thinking. However, Religions do very much accentuate the concept and religions have a wider reach than the DPRK.
But both prey on the darker side of the human soul.
Barry
Scott,
Your point on a necessary changing of the (American) life-style is also discussed by French media philosopher Bernard Stiegler. He harshly condemns the uninhibited spreading of this way of life, propagated by a psycho-power, formed by marketing-oriented "programme industries", which is slowly replacing classical "programme institutions" (schools, universities etc.), and tends to globalize such examples of throwaway societies. Stiegler demands a new "noo-politics" and a "bataille de l'intelligence", taking care of future generations and our planet: http://colblog.blog.lemonde.fr/2008/03/06/bernard-stiegler-prendre-soin-de-la-jeunesse-et-des-generations-economie-de-lhypermateriel-et-psychopouvoir/
Much appreciated Vananda Shiva's strong remarks.
How much can you really get done in 24 hours?? Start by making a difference at home: http://tictacdo.com/ttd/Host-a-Green-Event" rel="nofollow">tictacdo - But tell me, are these world leaders so busy that they can't give easily one of the most PRESSING issues in the world today a little bit more time?? It's no wonder that nothing REAL came out of this.