My latest column for Bridges is up, in it I provide an assessment of the Cancun climate conference. You can
read it here or listen to it
here in mp3. Comments welcomed.
As usual the
entire issue is worth a read. In it you can
read about the panel discussion with Alexander Ochs and David Goldston at the Austrian embassy in Washington, DC last week (below).
Below is a picture of me explaining to Alexander the reasons why St. Pauli will stay up this season, despite being on the brink halfway through. He does not look convinced.
And any guesses as to who are the two recognizable people in the audience who are in this photo (hint: not the lady sleeping in back!)?
Finally, here is me and
my favorite science policy blogger.
It was a really fun night, not only with fine drinks and delicious food from Austria, but with an engaging discussion as well. I am grateful to Ambassador Prosl, Phillip Maxgut, director of the OST, and the Austrian embassy staff for putting it on -- Fröhliche Weihnachten!!
2 comments:
"When India's environment minister went a bit rogue in the other direction by suggesting that India would be open to binding emissions reduction commitments, he was quickly brought back in line by his prime minister, who explained that India was not about to make any such commitments."
India just managed to get out from under Uranium Sanctions this summer.
India is not going to negotiate away it's right to burn coal in the event their Uranium supplies are cut off again.
The Japanese are for their own internal reasons planning on raising the percentage of electricity it gets from nuclear power to 40%. Half of Japanese Uranium supplies come from Kazakhstan and require the approval of the Russian Government to cross Russian territory.
One only needs to look to Canada and the case of shipping some old nuclear parts via the Great Lakes to see that plans that depend on shipping 'anything nuclear' across someone else's territory can become mired in controversy and delay.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/09/28/bruce-power-nuclear-wast-environmentalists.html
The Japanese Government is unlikely to agree a treaty given the likelihood that some Russian Environmental Group could potentially shutoff or seriously delay their Uranium supplies.
In the final analysis, agreeing treaties that gives someone else the ability to turn off the lights in your own country is something few governments would accept.
I'd like to wish Roger a Happy Lukewarm Holidays, but I'm locked down in blizzard conditions (I know, it's just weather). If I don't get a heart attack from shoveling 12-16 inches of weather tomorrow, I hope to read many more of Roger's posts.
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