Wednesday, December 12, 2007

USA BIG BUSINESS REFUSE TO REDUCE THE GLOBAL WARMING CATASTROPHIC IMPACT AS THEY OPPOSE THE BALI AGREEMENT ON REDUCING THE POLLUTION OF OUR PLANET

by Benjamin Merhav


The following two current news items have been downloaded from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) website. This ABC has radio stations and a TV channel. It is financed and controlled by the Australian federal government. Therefore it is a conservative, pro-USA news organisation, like the Australian government itself. The new labour Rudd government is committed to continue the traditional Australian subservience to USA imperialism, even at the cost of catastrophic results for all life on our planet, especially to third world and poor countries which are already suffering horrendous loses of life and infra structure as a result.

However, even such subservience cannot avoid the inevitable disclosure of some facts to the public, as the following two news items show. The first one reveals some of the catastrophic consequences; the second one reveals a little about the USA government intransigence.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/13/2117667.htm

Global warming causing record disasters: report

Posted 3 hours 45 minutes ago

Bangladesh cleans up after <span class=Sidr" height="192" width="285">

Disaster zone: A man perches on a dead cow in the aftermath of last month's cyclone in Bangladesh (AFP Photo: Jewel Samad)

The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) says global warming caused a record number of natural disasters across the world in 2007, up nearly 20 per cent from a year earlier.

"As of 10 October 2007, the Federation had already recorded 410 disasters, 56 per cent of which were weather-related, which is consistent with the trend of rising numbers of climate change-related disasters," the IFRC said in its World Disasters Report.

In 2006, the IFRC recorded 427 natural disasters, a rise of 70 per cent in the two years since 2004.

Over the last 10 years, the number of natural disasters rose by 40 per cent from the previous decade, while the number of deaths caused by disasters doubled to 1.2 million people from 600,000, the report said.

The number of people on average affected by natural disasters each year rose to 270 million from 230 million over the same period.

"Better reporting of smaller disasters partially explains these increases. However, more severe disasters are also on the increase," the IFRC report said.

The report warned that vulnerable groups in society such as women, disabled people, the elderly and ethnic minorities face extra hardships when coping with natural disasters.

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/13/2117436.htm

US stalling on short-term climate targets

Posted 6 hours 31 minutes ago
Updated 4 hours 55 minutes ago

The United States is resisting efforts to include short-term targets in the final Bali declaration at the UN climate change conference.

The US is joined by Australia, Canada, and Japan in its opposition to signing up for global emission cuts of between 25 and 40 per cent by 2020.

Australia says it supports global emissions cuts, but is waiting on advice from economic research.

But US delegation spokeswoman Paula Dobriansky says a group of developed countries are considering removing a reference to interim cuts in the final declaration.

"We don't want to be prejudging outcomes here," she said.

"The very positive aspect about this is we are in discussions with other countries. In fact many countries have also registered the point of view that they don't want a pre-judgement made here."

Yesterday Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called for a Bali road map to launch the next round of the Kyoto agreement, and took a swipe at the US for its refusal to sign up to Kyoto.

In an address to the conference Mr Rudd said Australia agreed on the need for a "shared global emissions goal" and for developed countries to embrace a "further set of binding emissions targets".

He also took aim at the US for its refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

"There is no plan B, there is no other planet any of us can escape to," he said.

"We need all developed nations, those within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol and those outside, to embrace comparable efforts.

"We must now move forward as a truly united nations with developed and developing countries working in parallel."

Mr Rudd says the Federal Government will decide on its position when research it has commissioned from climate change expert Professor Ross Garnaut is released next June.

Meanwhile, in the United States, several Republican presidential candidates have supported efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, during their final debate before next month's primary elections.

With three weeks to go before voting begins in the state of Iowa, hopefuls including Senator John McCain and former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani say climate change must be addressed.

Senator McCain says future generations will suffer if emissions cuts are not made.

"We can do it with technology, with caps and trade, with capitalist and free enterprise motivation," he said. "I'm confident that we can pass on to our children and grandchildren a cleaner and better world."

(Emphasis added- B.M.)

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