Friday, June 15, 2007

Gore Slams G8 On Climate Change

Al Gore slammed the agreement made at the G8 on climate change, calling it "a disgrace disguised as an achievement." The man that should have been President called out the group for failing to enact any type of real reform with hard and sufficient plans that will actually cut carbon emissions. The only person he spared was German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who advocated for hard deadlines in cutting fossil fuel consumption back.

From Yahoo News:

G8 leaders agreed to pursue "substantial" reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, stopping short of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's hopes for concrete numerical commitments on emission reductions, including her key aim to cut gases by 50 percent by 2050.

They said they would negotiate a new global climate pact that would extend and broaden the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012.

"It was a disgrace disguised as an achievement," Gore said at an event in Milan, where he praised Merkel for her efforts.

"The eight most powerful nations gathered and were unable to do anything except to say 'We had good conversations and we agreed that we will have more conversations, and we will even have conversations about the possibility of doing something in the future on a voluntary basis perhaps."'


Gore is dead on here. Merely saying that there will be a plan does not guarantee an actual plan. Much like in Iraq, there was no plan other than to win. If you do not come up with a plan to help turn the state of the environment around, then chances are you will not end up anywhere. Only a few like Merkel and Gore are brave enough to stand up in a way that can give hope to our current situation. The problem is however, where are the rest of the players on this one?