International climate change negotiations are underway in Bonn, Germany. These negotiations, formally known as an "intercessional," are running from June 1 to 12 and are intended to lay the groundwork for countries to form a binding agreement to tackle the climate crisis. The agreement is expected to be finalized during further negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark, later this year.
The Investing in Our Future Act, H.R. 5783, introduced by Representative Stark (D-Calif.), would place a tiny levy on the untaxed foreign currency exchange market -- where one currency is exchanged for another -- to raise urgently needed funds for climate change and health programs in impoverished countries. As a top climate polluter and the world’s largest economy, the United States owes the world a huge debt when it comes to climate change. The Investing in Our Future Act would begin to steer the United States on the right path toward living up to our responsibilities.
By Kate Horner
For over a decade, Friends of the Earth has been fighting against little known provisions in our trade agreements that grant broad privileges to multinational corporations and put profits ahead of the public interest. These trade policies allow companies to sue governments for adopting health or environmental laws that may reduce their current or future profits.
The success of global climate negotiations – and the fight against climate change – largely depend on
developed countries meeting their responsibilities to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars each year to
support developing countries to deal with global warming and to transition to sustainable and equitable
economies. This money will only be as effective as the institutions through which it is channeled.
Last December, President Obama accepted a Nobel Prize for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples" and his "constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting.” He characterized the Prize as “as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.” Yet in Copenhagen, President Obama squandered a historic opportunity to embody this necessary leadership in the global fight against the climate crisis.
After months of tedious negotiations, Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman last week introduced a draft of their cap-and-trade bill, the American Power Act. The bill pampers the country's worst industrial polluters while eliminating key components of the Clean Air Act.
