LIGHT BULBS LIGHT THE WAY

New Light on Copenhagen Climate Talks
Amy Goodman (w/ Denis Moynihan), September 1, 2009 (truthdig)

"On Sept. 1, the European Union stopped manufacturing and importing incandescent light bulbs. Europeans will now turn to the much more efficient compact fluorescent, halogen and LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs. Incandescents, critics argue, waste up to 95 percent of energy as heat…The EU hopes to save…$7.33 billion per year…

"The ban precedes the December 2009 Copenhagen climate conference, held by the United Nations to update the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Greenhouse-gas emissions now occur faster than ever. Copenhagen will be critical to the success or failure of establishing a practical, binding global plan of action before human-caused climate change reaches the point of no return, creating a cascade of catastrophes…[M]easured in “parts per million” (PPM)…a sustainable level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 350 PPM…We are currently at 387 PPM and climbing…"

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"A new generation of environmental activists is already in motion. This week, two young people were arrested in West Virginia for halting a Massey Energy Co. mountaintop coal-mining operation with a weeklong “tree sit,” and six people in London were arrested at the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters for protesting the bank’s investment in fossil fuels. They glued themselves together and to the floor of the bank…

"…[Big] money [is] being spent by the wealthy oil, gas and coal industries to derail or weaken any [Copenhagen] outcome. The American Petroleum Institute (API) has launched an “AstroTurf” (not to be confused with grass roots) campaign…largely attended by oil, gas and coal company employees, under the banner of “Energy Citizens.” Employees are bused in to the staged rallies…Similarities to the organized mobs at health care reform town-hall-style meetings are not merely coincidental; former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey’s group FreedomWorks, funded by, among others, oil and pharmaceutical corporations, is listed as a consultant to each industry campaign."

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"The API is attempting to undermine the U.S. Senate’s consideration of climate-change legislation…in September. Fast action would be required in order to grant President Barack Obama the room to negotiate at the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh in late September, a key step in the lead-up to Copenhagen. But Sens. Barbara Boxer and John Kerry said this week that the bill will be delayed, citing the health-care debate and the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy…

"…Every week that the health care and energy bills are delayed is a victory for the opponents of change…Genuine citizen action, in the U.S. and beyond, will be critical to counter industry influence over the Copenhagen talks. There is a light at the end of the climate tunnel—it just isn’t incandescent."