The Hill is reporting on a email received from Senator Kerry (D-Mass.) today in which the Senator opined that:
“The inside-the-Beltway conventional wisdom that this issue has stalled is dead wrong . . . This is not and never has been a partisan issue, and Senators Graham, Lieberman, and I will continue building consensus on both sides of the aisle with all those willing to engage to create jobs, advance our security interests, reduce pollution, and make America more competitive,” said Kerry, a key advocate of a climate change legislation.”
Photo: Nasa …

Walter Russell Mead, the foreign policy expert, historian, teacher, and self-proclaimed lifelong Democrat opines about climategate, glaciergate, the IPCC and the death of global warming at his blog at  the American Interest Online
It is well-worth taking the time to read.
Photo: NASA images -  http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarchi/2529459067/
Reference:   http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2010/02/01/the-death-of-global-warming/
KJC

Mega-yachts are inherently evil, right? Maybe not. The Wall Street Journal reports that pollution-spewing, fuel- guzzling mega-yachts have been enlisted by the International Seakeepers Society, an ocean research group, to collect data on the oceans and seas.

The Seakeepers have installed scientific equipment on more than 30 mega-yachts and . . . “collected more than 300 million meteorologic, climatological and oceanographic measurements.” WSJ

After decades of monitoring damage to the ozone layer, environmental policymakers finally have reason to celebrate. Well, sort of.
A new study issued by the University of Leeds says the ozone layer is now mending, but its repair could actually contribute to global warming in the southern hemisphere.
Scientists say high-speed winds generated by the hole led to the formation of moist, radiant clouds that essentially shielded the Antarctic region from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.

The first decade of the 21st century is on track to become the warmest on record, according to the UN weather agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
NASA also revealed that 2009 was the second warmest year since temperature records began in 1880. It joins the other warmest years of 1998, 2005, 2006 and 2007. The hottest was 2005.
Effects of the warming can be seen all over the globe.

While January 2010 is the month of predictions, for Stockholm, a 2010 banner already announces what residents have long predicted — being named the first green environmental city in Europe. They worked diligently to achieve the honor.
Here is a video showing Stockholm’s success followed by Green Predictions, 2010.

From the forests in Madagascar to glaciers in Bhutan climate change has been a concern.  Nature did a series hoping to educate the public regarding the plight of forests and glaciers at the beginning of this year.  They looked forward to the Climate Change Summit.  Today, we know it has ended in disappointment.  Nonetheless Greenpeace has vowed to keep up the pressure to help poorer nations.

According to the White House, President Obama is still planning to leave for the Copenhagen climate change summit tonight. . The President’s plans remain unchanged even though the climate talks are reportedly in disarray and his heath care legislation is “on the precipice”.
To help spur the climate talks along, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday proposed that the world’s major economies fund $100 billion a year over the next decade for developing nations to fight climate change.
But, as the Washington Post reports, there will be no major treaty and …

There is stress inside and protests outside.  The Climate Summit is clearly in a dark cloud of discord.  According to Reuters today the “Kyoto pact was in ‘intensive care’  two days before heads of state from around the globe are expected to agree a deal to slow rising temperatures set to cause heat waves, floods, desertification and rising seas.”
This video from December 8th portrays some of the skepticism that has clouded the conference philosophy.

The Climate Change Conference in Cophenhagen is a two week summit. BBC News reports that Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen has described the UN climate summit in Copenhagen as an “opportunity the world cannot afford to miss”. BBC News - Copenhagen summit urged to take climate change action