A congressional subcommittee panel on Wednesday examined U.S. policy toward Syria, asking what lawmakers can do to help the opposition as the Damascus government crackdown on the Syrian people continues. Some lawmakers questioned whether the Obama administration should continue to advocate for a peaceful resolution in Syria in the face of widespread violence. Members of [...]
Tag: change
December 15, 2011
December 15, 2011
Time Names ‘The Protester’ Person of the Year
The U.S.-based Time magazine has recognized unprecedented change in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world by naming “the protester” as its Person of the Year. In an article Wednesday, Time said the protest movement is largely populated by disenfranchised young adults who are frustrated with a lack of political power and a flailing [...]
December 15, 2011
In Unprecedented Move, Canada Withdraws from Kyoto Protocol
December 14, 2011 by legitgov ShareThis In Unprecedented Move, Canada Withdraws from Kyoto Protocol 14 Dec 2011 Barely 24 hours after it signed a new global climate change agreement in Durban, South Africa, Canada became on Monday the first country to formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol, the only legally binding treaty to reduce emissions [...]
December 14, 2011
China: Canada’s Kyoto Protocol Withdrawal ‘Regrettable’
China is calling Canada’s decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol “regrettable” and says it goes against the efforts of the international community. Canada’s move comes days after climate-change negotiators met to hammer-out a global deal in Durban, South Africa. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin expressed China’s dismay at the news that Canada had pulled [...]
December 13, 2011
VIDEO: Canada withdraws from Kyoto pact
The Canadian government has announced it will formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, making it the first nation to do so. The move was expected, as the country declared four years ago that it did not intend to meet its existing commitments, and its annual emissions have risen by about once third [...]
December 13, 2011
Canada pulls out of Kyoto accord
12 December 2011 Last updated at 23:04 GMT Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Environment Minister Peter Kent: ”Kyoto is not the path forward for a global solution for climate change” Canada will formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, the minister of the environment has said. Peter Kent said [...]
December 12, 2011
Rocky Anderson’s radical third way | Gary Younge
As a progressive former Democrat in Utah, the most reliably conservative state in the country, Rocky Anderson is no stranger to long odds or short shrift. Among other things, Anderson has been a fierce opponent of the Iraq invasion, supports gay marriage and is an ardent environmentalist. (Think former London mayor Ken Livingstone surrounded by [...]
December 12, 2011
Durban climate conference agrees deal to do a deal – now comes the hard part
At the Durban climate talks, negotiators agreed to start work on a new climate deal that would have full legal force. Link to this video The Durban climate conference may have agreed a deal – or at least a deal to agree a deal – but the scale of the work that still needs to [...]
December 11, 2011
Lynn Margulis obituary
Lynn Margulis, who has died following a stroke aged 73, was a world-renowned evolutionary biologist, professor of geoscience at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and recipient of the National Medal of Science. Yet when, as a junior academic in 1966, she wrote a paper that [...]
December 11, 2011
Durban Climate Talks Produce Imperfect Deals
Negotiators at the U.N. climate conference in South Africa have approved a package of agreements to combat global climate change. While the deal is a step forward, observers say more should have been accomplished. After hours of political wrangling and compromise on all sides, delegates emerged from an all-night session Sunday with a way forward [...]
December 11, 2011
Durban Climate Conference Drags On With Few Signs of Progress
The United Nations climate conference in Durban, South Africa has gone into overtime, as delegates met Saturday to try to reach agreement on several deals to fight climate change. Observers still question if any of the proposals on the table are strong enough to have a real impact. Negotiators representing nearly 200 nations worked through [...]
December 11, 2011
Zimbabwe’s Mugabe Announces 2012 Election Bid
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said Saturday he will not retire, but instead will lead his Zanu-PF party in elections that he announced will take place early next year. The 87 year-old president appeared fit after a four day annual conference of Zanu-PF where his leadership of the party was reconfirmed. As leader of the party, [...]
December 11, 2011
Liberian, Yemeni Women Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
Two women from Liberia and one from Yemen were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Saturday for their efforts to peacefully bring change to their countries. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman received their awards at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway. Royal trumpeters heralded the beginning of the [...]
December 10, 2011
Kyoto and a new conservation corps
President Obama urges African nations to plant more trees, following Wangari Maathai‘s inspiring example (Report, 8 December). An earlier example of such an initiative was the Civilian Conservation Corps, established by President Franklin D Roosevelt in 1933. At a time of high unemployment, 2.5 million men were given jobs conserving America’s natural resources. A primary [...]