Barack Obama
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Obama in Copenhagen: Let’s get this show on the road, people
U.S. President Barack Obama delivered this speech at the Copenhagen climate talks on Friday: Here are Obama’s remarks as prepared for delivery. Good morning. It’s an honor to for me to join this distinguished group of leaders from nations around the world. We come together here in Copenhagen because climate change poses a grave and […]
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They might just pull this thing off
This thing might just come together after all. I’ve said all along that the first week and half of these international climate talks will consist of posturing, ultimatum trading, threats to walk out, and other drama, each twist and turn amplified by a milling, ravenous press corps that’s locked out of the rooms where the […]
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Obama science advisor John Holdren on U.S. strategy in Copenhagen
COPENHAGEN — One of the puzzles about the U.S. strategy here in is how negotiators expected that pledging a 17 percent emissions reduction below 2005 levels by 2020 could be taken seriously. After all, that would bring the U.S. to approximately 1990 levels a decade from now, which is higher than the level the U.S. […]
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Chicken or Egg – – Health Care or Climate Change?
President Obama, who will personally participate in the Copenhagen climate talks this week, said last Sunday that he expects to get a health care bill on his desk before Christmas. The barriers to meeting that deadline may revolve around the answer to an age-old question: which comes first – – the health care chicken or […]
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Not Reid, not Godot: The whole world is waiting for YOU Mr. President
The world is aghast. It’s fate, it seems, “lies in the hands of a few U.S. Senators,” as Tuvalu negotiator Ian Fry lamented in his plea for a real, science-driven deal here in Copenhagen. The collective forehead of humanity wrinkles at the prospect. Who are these people? A couple of them from North Dakota, representing […]
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Walking the tightrope on climate action: getting to success in 2010
John Kerry delivered a speech in Copenhagen yesterday. It was inspiring, but look past the uplift and it reveals just how tricky the path forward will be. Here’s the needle Obama and Kerry are trying to thread: 1. Copenhagen talks end in substantial political agreement. That means developed countries will need to offer enough financing […]
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Things have changed
With so much angst afoot in the green world, it’s easy to lose perspective on just how different this administration is from the previous one. Two examples in my inbox today drive the point home. First, the president said this today: You know, our nation’s buildings, our homes and our offices, consume almost 40 percent […]
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Vindication edition: Obama declares insulation “sexy”
Here at Sexy Retrofits, we’ve been pointing out for a while the absolute hotness of making buildings more energy efficient. Today, our President said this: “I know the idea [of investing in upgrades to inefficient buildings] may not be very glamorous, although I get really excited about it. Insulation is sexy stuff.” Know what else […]
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President Obama to talk “Cash for Caulkers”
On Tuesday morning, President Obama is expected to add details to a new program that will create jobs and cut needless energy consumption through home retrofits. This follows Obama’s request to Congress last week to create a new program to provide incentives to home owners who retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient. I […]
