Copenhagen conference on the brink of collapse as world leaders arrive at talks | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Talks to save the planet from catastrophic climate change were on the brink of collapse this morning as officials from the three main blocs – rich countries, major developing economies, and small island states – said they had given up on getting a deal.

Even as 115 world leaders began arriving to put their personal imprint on a deal, the summit hosts were admitting they had failed to broker an agreement.

The chaotic end game to the negotiations could mean that world leaders only have time to hastily paper over a face-saving agreement.

In a story headlined Denmark gives up, the influential Berlingske newspaper quoted a senior source in the host delegation, saying the failure was a monumental disappointment to the Danes.

Most [idiots] throw cold water on China warming theory -- latimes.com

Reporting from Beijing - In the debate over global warming, some historical meteorologists in China pose a contrarian view.

Their theory, in a nutshell? Some like it hot.

Looking back over the millenniums, these scientists suggest that China has prospered during periods when temperatures are higher than usual. Conversely, they point out, cold spells have accompanied tragedies along the order of barbarian invasions, collapsing dynasties and civil war.

Levin, Upton head to Copenhagen to talk climate change | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Upton is the senior Republican on the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on energy and the environment, while Levin is a senior member on the House Ways and Means Committee.

Upton said in a statement that he went to voice opposition to President Barack Obama's strategy to reduce greenhouse gases.

[Insanity]: U.S. counting on cows to reduce emissions |

COPENHAGEN (AP) - The United States is counting on cows to save the planet.

U.S. Secretary Tom Vilsack announced an agreement with the American dairy industry Tuesday to reduce the industry's greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020, mostly by convincing farmers to capture the methane from cow manure that otherwise would be released into the atmosphere.

"This historic agreement, the first of its kind, will help us achieve the ambitious goal of drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions while benefiting farmers," Vilsack said at the U.N. climate talks. "(The) use of manure of technology is win for everyone."

Mountain of Waste at Copenhagen « Liveshots

Most of the attendees don't see hypocrisy in the mountain of paper, let along the summit's overall carbon footprint. During Earth Hour, which ran from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, the Bella Center turned off the lights to save energy, but everyone clapped when they turned the lights back on — defacing the planet once again, in the opinion of many attendees. After all, Denmark gets 80 percent of its electricity from coal.
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Add to that the fact that only about 1,000 actual negotiators actually work on making the deal. The rest — the environmentalists, companies and NGOs — are here just to influence the process and make connections.

So all their plane tickets from Senegal and Australia, the U.S. and China, all their meals imported from Africa, Asia and Latin America, all their taxis in Copenhagen and the massive electricity bills at the Bella Center — all of those blows to the environment are coming to facilitate a massive activist meetup.

Whitehall to bury bad news on green performance on last day of Copenhagen - BusinessGreen Blog

If you were a Whitehall civil servant and you had to release figures that will almost certainly show that central government departments have delivered a, shall we say, patchy performance against environmental targets, what day of the year would you choose to release them?