Updated: Reactions to Obama Speech

Posted on 18. Dec, 2009 by Ben Jervey in U.S.A., bits

Kassie Siegel, director of the Climate Law Institute of the Center for Biological Diversity, had the following response to President Obama’s speech:

“Obama offered only ultimatums to those countries most impacted by global warming; accept our terms or we will block funding to help you survive the crisis we caused but for which we still refuse to take responsibility.”

“Notably, in an apparent conscious renunciation of one of the most fundamental principals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Obama replaced the phrase ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ with the new phrase ‘common but differentiated responses.’ In short, under Obama, the U.S. apparently refuses to accept its unique responsibility as the largest cumulative greenhouse emitter on the planet.”

“Given Obama reaffirmed his position that the U.S. would commit to cutting carbon dioxide emissions by only 3% below 1990 levels by 2020, any deal announced in Copenhagen can not in any rational sense of the word be deemed a ‘success.’ The IPCC estimates that CO2 reductions of 25-40% below 1990 levels are needed by 2020 to avoid greater than 2 degrees of warming, while cuts of over 45% are likely needed to get on a trajectory for the only scientifically and ethically credible target of 350 ppm.”

“For the U.S. to put on the negotiating table a take-it-or-leave-it proposal that, by all reasonable and rational accounts would result in the death or displacement of millions of people and the extinctions of hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) of species, is unacceptable. It’s hard to image Obama the Candidate endorsing such position. But Obama the President is, when it comes to actual actions on climate, far closer to President Bush than Candidate Obama. The U.S. and the world need Candidate Obama to reemerge.”

Count Friends of the Earth as being less than impressed:

“President Obama’s rhetoric is empty. The U.S. has failed to significantly improve upon the weak position it brought to these talks.

“This speech appears to be more of a face-saving exercise for President Obama than an attempt to unite countries around a truly planet-saving agreement.

“The United States came to these negotiations with a weak position, and now appears to be attempting to take the rest of the world down to our level. It simply must do better.”

WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts in response to President Obama’s speech before the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen:

“In coming to Copenhagen at the critical final stage of this two-year process, President Obama outlined the building blocks of a deal and expressed his conviction that work still needs to be done. He has put an emissions target on the table and pledged his commitment to long-term climate financing – both critical pieces of a final deal.‪

“But that’s not enough to knit together the world community at this pivotal hour. As the President has said numerous times, all countries need to stand behind their commitments and agree to make those commitments transparent.

“That applies to the US as well. The only way the world can be sure the US is standing behind its commitments is for the President to clearly state that climate change will be his next top legislative priority. The ultimate test of his leadership will be engaging the Senate and delivering action in Congress early next year.

“The world’s future hangs in the balance. At this critical hour, the ‘fierce urgency of now,’ of which Dr. King spoke so about eloquently, is ringing loudly.”‪

Tags: Barack Obama, United States