Tuesday: Sobering Perspectives

Yesterday, I mentioned that, after a difficult but productive conversation with a man from Hong Kong, I was having trouble justifying the pace and scope of US action against climates change, and that has not changed over the last 24 hours. I had the opportunity today to attend a panel on the prospects for action in the United States given by the legislative aids to four US senators, and the picture they painted was not heartening. Their main point was that there simply isn't the public support needed to push a "climate change bill" through congress. People are worried about the economy, not the planet. It's a message I've heard from a few other US political sources: If the US is going to do anything at all on climate change, it has to be a "jobs bill."

The comments of Senator Lugar's aid from Indiana were particularly negative. He seemed to imply that the public simply wasn't capable of understanding climate change or the legislation that might prevent it. At one point, he even elicited shouts of "bullshit" and "So you think [American's] are stupid?" from a member of the audience. It was all very disappointing to hear these wonks trying to excuse their politicians from seeing through a climate bill.



I have to wonder though, is the problem really public opinion or is the problem that too many corporations stand to gain too much by stalling legislation? I would prefer to assume the former, because it would at least imply that politicians are being responsive to the will of their constituents. But a recent poll suggests that half of Americans would actually support a climate bill in its own right. So it seems curious to me that this is such a difficult issue in congress. Why is the American attitude so starkly juxtaposed to that of the rest of the world?

Since I didn't have access to a pass today, I spent the day exploring various other events around Copenhagen. I attended a talk on the fears of NGOs and native peoples in Brazil that the agreement on emissions associated with land use will disadvantage native people while spurring an increase in tree plantations. It was very interesting to see that other side of the debate. Then I did a little exploring with my friend who's staying in Copenhagen, seeing a number of sights around town, including the globe representing 1 ton of carbon that's been constructed in the city center.