11 Comments

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  northlondon at 03:07 PM JST - 21st April

  Glad that someone of importance doesn't believe Bush's rhetoric. Bush has done nothing to improve the world's biggest polluter. By 2025 ? But he's leaving office this year ?

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  thepossum at 03:34 PM JST - 21st April

  "Merkel said it is important for developed countries, including the United States, the world’s biggest polluter, to show a long-term vision to slash emissions, according to the Japanese officials."

  Bah to you Merkel ! First, get yer facts right. The USA is not the worlds biggest polluter. In fact, the USA doesn't even have one city in the top 10 most polluted places on the planet: List is courtesy of the Blacksmith Institute and Time Magazine

  "World's Worst Polluted Places 2007"

  1)Sumgayit, Azerbaijan

  2)Linfen, China

  3)Tianying, China

  4)Sukinda, India

  5)Vapi, India

  6)La Oroya, Peru

  7)Dzerzhinsk, Russia

  8)Norilsk, Russia

  9)Chernobyl, Ukraine

  10)Kabwe, Zambia

  But wait, there's more...

  "In 2004 the total greenhouse gas emissions from the People's Republic of China were about 54% of the USA emissions.However, China is now building on average one coal-fired power plant every week, and plans to continue doing so for years.Various predictions see China overtaking the US in total greenhouse emissions between late 2007 and 2010,and according to many other estimates, this already occurred in 2006."

  As far as whining to the Japanese about this issue... well, this speaks volumes:

  "Japan A December 20, 2004 article in the Christian Science Monitor stated, "Japan flat-out says it can't reduce emissions by the expected amount."

  Doh !

  As for the US ? Well, they continue to make more "measurable" progress than any other nation on the planet... again, "real numbers" people not "made up estimates" !!!

  On August 31, 2006, the California Legislature (representing over 33 million Californians) reached an agreement with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to reduce the state's greenhouse-gas emissions, which rank at 12th-largest in the world, by 25% by the year 2020. This resulted in the Global Warming Solutions Act which effectively puts California in line with the Kyoto limitations, but at a date later than the 2008-2012 Kyoto commitment period.

  "As of December 4, 2007, 740 US cities in 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, representing over 76 million Americans support Kyoto after Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle started a nationwide effort to get cities to agree to the protocol. On October 29, 2007, it was reported that Seattle met their target reduction in 2005, reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent since 1990.

  Large participating cities: Albany, New York; Albuquerque, New Mexico;Alexandria, Virginia; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Arlington, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Baltimore, Maryland; Berkeley, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Charleston, South Carolina;Chattanooga, Tennessee; Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio;Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Des Moines, Iowa; Fairfield, Connecticut; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Hartford, Connecticut; Honolulu, Hawaii; Indianapolis, Indiana; Jersey City, New Jersey; Lansing, Michigan; Las Vegas, Nevada; Lawrence, Kansas; Lexington, Kentucky; Lincoln, Nebraska; Little Rock, Arkansas; Los Angeles, California; Louisville, Kentucky; Madison, Wisconsin; Miami, Florida; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York, New York; Oakland, California; Omaha, Nebraska; Pasadena, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Phoenix, Arizona; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; Providence, Rhode Island; Richmond, Virginia; Sacramento, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Antonio, Texas; San Francisco, California; San Jose, California; Santa Ana, California; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Seattle, Washington; Sioux City, Iowa; St. Louis, Missouri; Tacoma, Washington; Tallahassee, Florida; Tampa, Florida; Topeka, Kansas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Vancouver, Washington; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; West Palm Beach, Florida; Wilmington, North Carolina."

  George Bush was right... you don't need big government to interfere whenlocal communities will rise to the ocassion ! Well done USA... and Germany ? Bah ! First you got busted for fudging your "methane gas" data by the "European Commission Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy". They go on to say that the only reason Germany has even come close to achieving Kyoto Protocol numbers is due to the large numbers of factories being shut down due to poor economic conditions in the Eastern part of the country ! Way to go Merkel... is that your solution ? No thank you !

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  northlondon at 04:02 PM JST - 21st April

  thepossum,

  Nice long posting there. Although I think you are getting confused between the world's biggest polluters and the world's most polluted places. Different ballparks matey.

  The US is, and will continue to be, one of the world's biggest polluters.

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  thepossum at 04:35 PM JST - 21st April

  North... care to explain how you become one of the worlds most polluted sites if your not already one of the worlds biggest polluters. Oh and I might mention that the USA doesn't have one city in the Blacksmith Institutes "Dirty Thirty" ! An interesting read if you care to get educated.

  As for the US being "one" of the worlds biggest polluters... so is Canada, Australia, India, China, Japan etc. But Merkel doesn't say that now does she. And Europe ? Dont you just love the way they seperate themselves when it's politically correct ? How about combining the European nations to equal the US population, territory, and GDP... and then lets see how they pan out. Lets see, greenhouse emission increases for:

  Spain... up 50% Greece... up 25% Ireland... up 23% Portugal... up 29%

  The USA ??? Lower totals than any of these 4 ! And that includes whats produced in Canada and is measured in the USA. With Canadas miserable increase of 62% its safe to say their dirty air is affecting America's measurements, its simply the way the wind currents blow off the great lakes. Again, I say congrats to the USA and the he11 with them whiny Europeans. Sheesh, some things never change !

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  northlondon at 05:08 PM JST - 21st April

  There is a difference between being a polluted city and mass-scale industrial pollution of our environment. Most large-scale industrial plants are built on flat lands or next to the sea and with good wind rates. Therefore the local area will not be polluted. However the effect on the rest of the planet is more damaging and long-term.

  Instead of believing governmental spin try reading 'actual' news like this:-

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4075986.stm

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  westurn at 10:59 PM JST - 21st April

  Northlondon, that is rich !

  "Instead of believing governmental spin try reading 'actual' news like this:-"

  The BBC ??? You are quoting the BBC as your reliable news source ??? Oh stop, yer killin' me here !

  Possum, you are spot on with your observations. While America makes strides with actual results the Europeans complain and bellyache about not being taken seriously. What a buncha wind bags !

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  USNinJapan2 at 11:32 PM JST - 21st April

  northlondon

  If I were you I'd be concerned with countries like China and India who are still climbing the developmental ladder and whose pollution rates are on the rise instead of the US who is actually making an effort to reduce it's pollutant output.

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  Maruku at 12:33 AM JST - 22nd April

  North, I like your work ... short and concise. Let me contribute...

  http://www.carbonplanet.com/country_emissions

  In the table you'll find fully referenced sources but in case you didn't get North's point about a dirty neighborhood and a polluted world. It goes something like this. Global warming is caused (mainly) by industrialization (think fossil fuels and gas that make that all possible because energy doesn't come from the plug in the wall, there's a power-station on the other end of that guy). America, at the moment, is the most industrialized nation in the world (rah rah! and all that). Isn't it obvious that, to get there, they used fossil fuels and gas, and that by inference they used more than most?

  If you think not, check this out http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eneoilcon-energy-oil-consumption

  Now you see, when burn gas you make greenhouse gas ... and when you use of a lot of gas (petrol) you make a lot of greenhouse gas, which, even George would agree, causes global warming.

  So I don't see how you can that the US is not a player in this Possum. But it's ok, no one is blaming the US. This is a global issue, which is probably why George can't work it out. The scale ... the scale of the world is just too big.

  Truth is, no one is doing enough, so chill. This is not about pointing the finger. It about saying that people/states who should know better, should be more aware of the fact that this is a global issue, and should, based on their technology and advanced capability, be doing more.

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  northlondon at 03:30 PM JST - 22nd April

  Thank you Maruku. westurn, the news article I supplied, about a senior aide to George W editing the results of global warming caused by industrial pollution, is not BBC propaganda as it was admitted in the US and reported widely in the US press.

  Here it is in the New York Times, so what are you going to use as an excuse now I wonder ?

  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/politics/08climate.html

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  redacted at 03:39 PM JST - 22nd April

  Global Warming is a myth, it's the Armageddon component of the Left's Holier-than-thou syncretic quasi-religion.

  Future historians will treat it the way we do things like the medieval belief in the existence of witches.

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  westurn at 09:57 PM JST - 22nd April

  Actually Maruku...

  "Now you see, when burn gas you make greenhouse gas ... and when you use of a lot of gas (petrol) you make a lot of greenhouse gas, which, even George would agree, causes global warming."

  Burning "gas" is not the number one contributor to greenhouse gasses... it's the natural decaying of plants ! Of which America has tons of ! Do a little research before you go off bashing the USA and Dubya.

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