Kerry says clock ticking on climate change deal

[Mass]

I know this issue is not necessarily sexy for the netroots these days (no big scandal, just the need to do something), but I am happy he continues to deal with this. (Which reminds me that, when he decided not to run for president in 2007, he stated the policy areas that he wanted to be leading on. Does somebody still have the speech, so that we can see if he actually changed.

In the meantime, I am happy to see him lead on what is one of the big international issues of the world, and one that will be important when it comes to future foreign policies issues and potential wars.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/04/kerry_says_cloc.html

Senator John F. Kerry, opening a hearing on global warming on Earth Day, says this is a "make-or-break" year on the issue and calls on the United States to spearhead the effort.

Covening the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Massachusetts Democrat notes that a key international conference on climate change is later this year in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"The clock is ticking on the best chance the countries of the world will have to marshal an effective global response," he said in his prepared opening remarks.

"All policymakers involved in this process need to realize that if we aim too low, America and the global community will fail to do what is necessary to meet this challenge. It’s that simple."

He added, "We here in Washington must realize that the world is taking its cues from us. In my meetings over the past several months with environment ministers from Germany to China to Bangladesh, I have been struck by the extent to which the eyes of the world are focused on the U.S. Congress and our domestic policy process. Without a clear signal from Congress on the scope, format and ambition of our domestic program, our negotiators will lack the leverage to secure the participation of all the major contributors to climate change. Ultimately, the strength of our domestic policy will be a critical factor in galvanizing the world to enter into a global agreement."
...
/div]

[wisteria]

1. I think he is correct and I believe the Obama Administration understands this also.

At least, I hope so. The administration seems to be giving this a lot of attention.

[karynnj]

2. Here's the part of the Senate speech on that

(the first part was a very long description of the situation in Iraq.)

Before I finish, I want to add a note, both personal and political. Two years ago I sought the Presidency to lead us on a different course. I am proud of the campaign we ran, proud of the fact that 3 years ago I said that Iraq was the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time; proud that we defined energy independence and made it, for the first time, part of the Presidential race; proud of a health care plan that we laid out that to this moment remains viable and waiting to be used in order to lower the health care costs for our fellow Americans.

We came close, certainly close enough, to be tempted to try again. There are powerful reasons to want to continue that fight now. But I have concluded this is not the time for me to mount a Presidential campaign. It is time to put my energy to work as part of the majority in the Senate to

do all I can to end this war and strengthen our security and our ability to fight the real war on terror.

The people of Massachusetts have given me an incredible privilege to serve, and I intend to work here to change a policy in Iraq that threatens all that I have cared about and fought for since I came home from Vietnam.

The fact is, what happens here in the next 2 years may irrevocably shape or terribly distort the administration of whichever candidate is next elected President. Decisions are being taken and put into effect today and in the days to come that may leave to the next President a wider war, a war even more painful, more difficult, more prolonged than the war we already have.

Iraq , if we Senators force a change of course, may yet bring stability and an exit with American security intact or it may bring our efforts in the region to a failure that we will all recognize as a catastrophe.

I don't want the next President to find that he or she has inherited a nation still divided and a policy destined to end as Vietnam did, in a bitter or sad legacy. I intend to devote all my efforts and energies over the next 2 years, not to the race for the Presidency for myself but for doing whatever I can to ensure that the next President can take the oath with a reasonable prospect of success for him or her--for the United States. And I intend to speak the truth as I find it without regard for political correctness or partisan advantage, to advise my colleagues and my fellow citizens to the best of my ability and judgment, and to support every action the Senate may reasonably and constitutionally take to guide and direct the ship of state.

This mission, this responsibility, is something all of us must accept, and as someone who made the mistake of voting for the resolution that gave the President the authority to go to war, I feel the weight of a personal responsibility to act, to devote time and energy to the national dialog in an effort to limit this war and bring our participation to a conclusion