Friday
Jun052009
Pelosi Cautious On Climate Meeting With China
Friday, June 5, 2009 at 5:34PM
By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service
U.S Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was reserved in her choice of words today at the Brookings Institution as she reflected on her recent bipartisan trip to China to discuss the communist country’s climate efforts.
“This trip was very important for us because the U.S and China are the biggest emitters of gases and we have to come to terms in order for us to come to a multilateral agreement in Copehagen.” said Pelosi
The U.S delegation made the May trip after an invitation from the Chinese government. The meeting may have also given the U.S an ally against the growing threat that North Korea poses since its alleged nuclear and missile tests.
Bruce Klingner, an analyst for the Heritage Foundation, said that the Obama administration is “trying to press China to be less obstructionist, to allow for a greater punitive measure against North Korean government agencies.”
Why this (the climate crisis) “is important is we see it as a national security issue to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We see it as an economic issue to create clean energy jobs and to be competitive in our investments and our innovation and technology so that we can be the world leader,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi spoke about how the American delegation prepared for this trip, saying “We arrived in China, we knew what we were going there to do but of course with our message reinforced from what we had just seen (in Alaska) also equipped with a bill that had passed Congress on Thursday which was a historic, momentous legislation on how we would go forward.”
The House Speaker confirmed that China has already demonstrated efforts to take energy consumption and climate into consideration, as she said “The Chinese have done remarkable things... in terms of closing down coal plants that were inefficient, the investments in research and actual construction of buildings in different ways so they'd use less energy in their construction and on the ongoing.”
But Pelosi reported that, despite efforts towards for climate improvement on a certain level, the delegation was met with a certain resistance from their Chinese counterparts with regards to further resolutions.
“What they wanted to be clear to us is that as they were doing this and they were investing in the technologies and the rest... they were going to be developing still, sustainable development with more of an emphasis on the development side,” said Pelosi.
Every year, “600,000 die of pollution in China,” according to Pelosi.
U.S Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was reserved in her choice of words today at the Brookings Institution as she reflected on her recent bipartisan trip to China to discuss the communist country’s climate efforts.
“This trip was very important for us because the U.S and China are the biggest emitters of gases and we have to come to terms in order for us to come to a multilateral agreement in Copehagen.” said Pelosi
The U.S delegation made the May trip after an invitation from the Chinese government. The meeting may have also given the U.S an ally against the growing threat that North Korea poses since its alleged nuclear and missile tests.
Bruce Klingner, an analyst for the Heritage Foundation, said that the Obama administration is “trying to press China to be less obstructionist, to allow for a greater punitive measure against North Korean government agencies.”
Why this (the climate crisis) “is important is we see it as a national security issue to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We see it as an economic issue to create clean energy jobs and to be competitive in our investments and our innovation and technology so that we can be the world leader,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi spoke about how the American delegation prepared for this trip, saying “We arrived in China, we knew what we were going there to do but of course with our message reinforced from what we had just seen (in Alaska) also equipped with a bill that had passed Congress on Thursday which was a historic, momentous legislation on how we would go forward.”
The House Speaker confirmed that China has already demonstrated efforts to take energy consumption and climate into consideration, as she said “The Chinese have done remarkable things... in terms of closing down coal plants that were inefficient, the investments in research and actual construction of buildings in different ways so they'd use less energy in their construction and on the ongoing.”
But Pelosi reported that, despite efforts towards for climate improvement on a certain level, the delegation was met with a certain resistance from their Chinese counterparts with regards to further resolutions.
“What they wanted to be clear to us is that as they were doing this and they were investing in the technologies and the rest... they were going to be developing still, sustainable development with more of an emphasis on the development side,” said Pelosi.
Every year, “600,000 die of pollution in China,” according to Pelosi.
Iraqi Government Official: Iraqi Security Ready for U.S Withdrawal
On Monday, Dr. Rafe Al-Eissawi, Iraq’s deputy prime minister, made a speech at the Carnegie Endowment For International Peace Center in which he addressed the issue of U.S withdrawal from Iraq. Al-Eissawi insists that Iraqi security forces are ready to take over the protection of the country.
Al-Eissawi was optimistic that the Iraqi security forces could meet the requirements expected by the U.S to allow for the American withdrawal of its troops to optimize Iraqi stability and security after the 2010 Iraqi general elections that will determine the new members of the national parliament.
"Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," announced U.S. President Barack Obama on February 28.
Speaking on his assessment of the withdrawal, Al-Eissawi said “We consider the Iraqi forces are capable of controlling the situation.”
Iraq has acknowledged and taken measures to fill the vacuum left by the rapid departure of American forces and the gradual dispersion of American influence, Al-Eissawi said. “We are fully aware of the challenges that may take place accompanying this control shift of transition from mixed Iraqi-American to purely Iraqi security forces.”
But Al-Eissawi recognized that the Iraqi security forces’ capacity to take over the security of Iraq would not come immediately but would rather require that the national forces remain under American auspices, saying that Iraq “may need the American force in the next period, focusing more and more on training and some logistic support, which is considered to make a great difference.”
According to Al-Eissawi, the effectiveness of the withdrawal depends upon “The necessity of commitment and implementation of the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement that provides a framework of cooperation between two countries as one state stations troops in another state) between Iraq and America and the timing of withdrawal of the main troops from the main cities and the capacity building of the Iraqi security forces that will be able to cover the security vacuum that may take place accompanying the withdrawal.”