Bali High.

Here’s a bit of good news: With Bali climate talks deadlocked, EU threatens to boycott U.S. meeting

(Be careful clicking the link, however. The photo of the Goracle at the top of the article can curdle milk.)

Frustrated with deadlocked negotiations at a United Nations conference on global warming, the European Union threatened Thursday to boycott separate talks that are to be held by the United States next month.

Humberto Rosa, the chief delegate from Portugal, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said proposed talks by the Bush administration in Hawaii in January would be "meaningless" if there was no deal this week on the resort island of Bali.

Good. Less air flights to Hawaii for those pampered twits. That should cut down on greenhouse emissions, no?

The United States and the EU are at odds on many points, including whether an agreement signed here should include numerical targets, a move that the United States and a few other countries, including Russia, oppose. The emerging economic powers, most notably China and India, also refuse to accept limits on their emissions, despite projections that they will soon become the dominant source of the gases.

Wait! You mean Russia, China, India and “a few other countries” also disagree with the setting of numerical targets that could halt any and all development, not to mention life as we know it? I thought it was just the US that was acting “irresponsibly” by recognizing these numbers for what they are —unrealistic— and thus creating a logjam in the flow of world salvation.

"The best we hoped for was that the U.S. would not hobble the rest of the world from moving forward," said Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit U.S. organization. "Our delegation here from the States has not been able to meet that low level of expectation."

Hey, Kevin, the US is not stopping any country from moving forward on this "noble" quest. If the EU wants to fall upon its sword, they are welcome to do so. Just remember that they haven’t even come close to meeting the goals set by the original Koyoto Accord. This is one area I would prefer the USA NOT be a leader.

In an interview Thursday, Bloomberg [that’s Mayor Mike Bloomberg of NYC] said he blamed both the Bush administration and Congress for not being aggressive enough in addressing global warming.

"There's a belief that the United States should not do anything until all the other governments are willing to go along and do it at the same time," he said. "We should be doing this regardless of whether the world is following or not."

Michael, Michael, Michael…*sigh*…first off, what the heck are you doing in Bali? Second, if you want to paint the town white to reflect sunlight back into the atmosphere or mandate that all street lights, Broadway lights, etc. be turned off to conserve electricity you go right ahead. That’s where you’re fiefdom lies Mike. Go to it. At least Mayor Gavin Newsom has made some strides in that direction out in San Fran (Tough green building rules proposed for San Francisco).

*sigh*