Independent UK: Leaders of the rich world are enacting a giant fraud

[marmar]

Johann Hari: Leaders of the rich world are enacting a giant fraud
Corporate lobbyists can pressure or bribe governments to rig the system in their favour

Friday, 11 December 2009



Every delegate to the Copenhagen summit is being greeted by the sight of a vast fake planet dominating the city's central square. This swirling globe is covered with corporate logos – the Coke brand is stamped over Africa, while Carlsberg appears to own Asia, and McDonald's announces "I'm loving it!" in great red letters above. "Welcome to Hopenhagen!" it cries. It is kept in the sky by endless blasts of hot air.

This plastic planet is the perfect symbol for this summit. The world is being told that this is an emergency meeting to solve the climate crisis – but here inside the Bela Centre where our leaders are gathering, you can find only a corrupt shuffling of words, designed to allow countries to wriggle out of the bare minimum necessary to prevent the unravelling of the biosphere.

Staggering across the fringes of the summit are the people who will see their countries live or die on the basis of its deliberations. Leah Wickham, a young woman from Fiji, broke down as she told the conference she will see her homeland disappear beneath the waves if we do not act now. "All the hopes of my generation rest on Copenhagen," she pleaded. Dazed Chinese and Indian NGOs explain how the Himalayan ice is rapidly vanishing and will be gone by 2035 – so the great rivers of Asia that are born there will shrivel and cease. They provide water for a quarter of humanity.

Mohamed Nasheed, the President of the drowning Maldives, said simply: "The last generation of humans went to the moon. This generation of humans needs to decide if it wants to stay alive on planet Earth." ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-leaders-of-the-rich-world-are-enacting-a-giant-fraud-1837963.html

[Laelth]

1. This is important. k&r n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[Soylent Brice]

2. K&R

[truedelphi]

3. A friend of mine just pointed out to me that one of the Cap n Trade items that

The Corporate Oil Barons are hoping for is a subsidy that will encourage them to not pull the oil from the ground. In other words, they get paid to NOT pump oil.

Then a decade from now, they have our money, they have upped the price of oil, AND THEY will go ahead and pump the oil.

Another fruad upon the average citizen of Planet Earth. But hey, if it's good for the children...

[earth mom]

4. This is a Must Read article! Huge K & R!!! nt

[swilton]

5. Excellent Article - Must Read

The countries who have accumulated the most CO2 emissions' have the greatest abilities and can make the greatest contributions to its reduction, even if only via small steps such as conservation.

[katty]

6. and now....the Climate Awards Show from Copenhagen!

[nomorenomore08]

7. Yeah, it does seem to be more theater, or spectacle, than anything else.

But that's modern politics for ya... :shrug:

[Blue_Tires]

8. ttt