Bali
No, I haven't been there. I have however been following the latest round of climate talks. This is worth a mention purely because my I now have a new favourite american quote.
This one was by James Connaughton, who's Bush’s chief adviser on environmental issues. He's not a scientist, or an economist, or a diplomat, but rather a lawyer who was appointed by Bush after a career defending chemical manufacturers and aluminium smelters against environmental lawsuits. Thank you to the Times for this info, who gave the following description of the harrowing two weeks of negotiations.
Time after time, just as an agreement on emissions reduction targets had drawn near, the US delegation submitted amendments or new texts that threw the process into disarray. It was these tactics that eventually saw them get their way and have the emissions target figures removed.
They might have won even more concessions had it not been for a last-minute outburst from Kevin Conrad, head of Papua New Guinea’s delegation, who won mass applause when he told the Americans yesterday: “We seek your leadership, but if you cannot lead, leave it to the rest of us. Get out of the way.”
It was after this that America finally yielded and offered a deal.
James was asked why America, a global leader in so many other ways, was so unwilling to lead the fight against global warming.
Wait for it....!
“We are leading and we will continue to lead,” he growled, to gasps of amazement. “But leadership requires the rest of the world to fall in line and follow us.”
Heh :) Classic.
Previously the top spot was held by the answer that Ari Fleisher, then Whitehouse spokesman, gave in response to the question: "Does the President believe that, given the amount of energy Americans consume per capita, how much it exceeds any other citizen in any other country in the world, that we need to correct our lifestyles to address the energy problem?"
MR. FLEISCHER: That's a big no. The President believes that it's an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policy makers to protect the American way of life. The American way of life is a blessed one.
