Kerry: Climate Change 'Enormous Cloud Hanging Over All of Us'

    While the attention of much of the world Sunday was focused on the massive unity rally in France in response to the recent terror attacks in that country, Secretary of State John Kerry was in India for a "global business" summit where he spoke of, among other concerns, the "one enormous cloud hanging over all of us which requires responsibility from leaders. Global climate change[.]" Kerry said that climate change is "violently affecting communities" worldwide, but that the silver lining in his view is that responding to climate change offers an "unprecedented number of plusses, and frankly, almost no downside." His full remarks on the subject came during his speech at the opening ceremony of the summit [emphasis added]:

I am convinced, as we look to the relationship of the future though, just as Ban Ki-moon mentioned a few minutes ago, there is one enormous cloud hanging over all of us which requires responsibility from leaders. Global climate change is already violently affecting communities not just across India but around the world. It is disrupting commerce, development, and economic growth. It’s costing farmers crops. It’s costing insurance companies unbelievable payouts. It’s raising the cost of doing business, and believe me, if it continues down the current trend-line, we will see climate refugees fighting each other for water and seeking food and new opportunity. 

So this is a relationship between India and the United States where we believe very deeply that we could turn sustainable economic growth opportunities into a prosperity we have ever seen before. And it means one very [simple] thing: Unlike many problems in public life where you struggle sometimes between the plusses and minuses of a particular choice you make – and leaders here all know and business leaders all know what I’m talking about – the choices of climate change offer an unprecedented number of plusses, and frankly, almost no downside. If we make the choices that are staring us in the face, the fact is that a solution to climate change is already here. It’s called energy policy. Sustainable energy policy. And in a sustainable energy policy comes a whole set of benefits to our economy, something many countries of the world are screaming for today.

    While the bulk of Kerry's talk centered on economic and business issues, he did pay tribute to the rally in France:

We may all come from different walks of life, but we stand together this morning with the people of France as they march in tribute to the victims of last week’s murderous attack on the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. And we stand together not just in anger and outrage, but in solidarity and commitment to the cause of confronting extremism and in the cause that extremists fear so much and that has always united our countries – freedom. We stand together in freedom and together we make it clear that no act of terror will ever stop the march of freedom. (Applause.)

    Kerry's complete remarks at the opening ceremony can be found here.


Note: A version of this post first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

New U.N. 'Gay Rights' Music Video Uses 'Polly Wolly Doodle' Tune

    Ambassador Samantha Power tweeted a link this week to a new Bollywood-produced United Nations music video promoting gay rights.  It tells the story of a man in India bringing home his "special friend" to meet his family for the first time. The song is called "The Welcome":

 

    If the tune beginning around the :23 mark sounds vaguely familiar, it might be that you are recalling it from childhood.  Here's Shirley Temple singing "Polly Wolly Doodle":

    According to Wikipedia, the song appeared first in 1880 in a Harvard student songbook. The tune appears to be in the public domain, simply listed by the Public Domain Information Project as "traditional." 

    I think all would agree that this use of the tune is anything but traditional.

The UN and the Rise of the Seas: A Miss is As Good As a Mile. Or Even Three.

   In case you missed it, June 5 was World Environment Day. The United Nations heavily promoted this day-of-awareness-raising, which finds itself neatly sandwiched between the anniversaries of the Tianeman Square massacre in China and the D-Day invasion in France. And to hear the environmentalists tell it, the tolls of those two events will pale in comparison to the devastation to be reeked without draconian measures put in place immediately to rein in carbon pollution.
    The official slogan of World Environment Day this year was "Raise your voice, not the sea level." (The slogan leaves one with the impression that perhaps it sounded better in the original language in which it was coined.) This year, the UN deployed a unique new weapon in the climate change arsenal: an award-winning website called World Under Water. Visitors are greeted with an ominous warning:

Sea levels are rising. Soon, climate change won’t just affect people living in coastal regions, but each and every one of us.  See the effect of global warming in your neighborhood.

    The next page features various well known locales with famous landmarks (utilizing Google Street View,) but with a twist. The website's gimmick is superimposing a shimmering, moving image of water of the lower part of the screen, presenting the mildly hokey illusion of devastating inundation:

    But remember, the website invites visitors to "see the effect of global warming in your neighborhood." There is a slight problem with the concept, however. The interface accepts any street address. Any. Regardless of the location's elevation. As you might be guessing by now, this allows for some rather incongruous images.  For instance, here is Mile High Stadium in Denver, CO:

Here's an exterior shot:

    For non-football fans, "Mile High" is not hyperbole or clever marketing. The official elevation of the city is 5,280 feet, which is, if you recall from your elementary school days, exactly one mile.  So while "climate change deniers" are the ones usually blamed for ignoring science, the World Under Water folks may have some explaining to do. All other things remaining equal, a glacier roughly the size of Jupiter would have to melt to flood Denver. [Full disclosure: I am not a scientist. I ball-parked the glacier size.]
    But a mile is nothing compared to this image from Cerro de Pasco, Peru, which sits at 14,370 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains:

    The caption says, "When large storms hit land, higher sea levels mean bigger, more powerful storm surges." But the earth hasn't seen a storm surge like this since Noah.
    Just to see how sea-level rise might hit closer to home, I entered President Obama's current address, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, which, according to my sources, is 59 feet above the current sea level:

Despite the caption captured in the photo above, it remains unclear how many species of fish currently reside in the Entrance Hall of the White House that may be displaced by rising sea levels.
    So while the impacts of predicted increased sea levels (which President Obama famously albeit obliquely pledged to hold back) may be somewhat up in the air (so to speak,) it seems safe to say they will not be a mile up in the air, or three miles, or even 59 feet. The text captured at the bottom of the photo of Mile High Stadium above says, "Even a small amount of sea level rise will have profound and largely negative effects." Even as a non scientist, I believe I can say with confidence that flood-delayed Broncos games, cruises in the Andes, and White House tours via submarine will not be among them.

U.S. Cosponsors U.N. Resolution to Fight Texting and Driving

    While crises continue in Ukraine, Syria, Iran, and the Central African Republic, the United Nations turned its attention to a different kind of crisis on Thursday: the "global road safety crisis."  The U.N. General Assembly held a session on Improving Global Road Safety in which the United States cosponsored a resolution "which calls for laws to fight texting and driving."  Ambassador Samantha Power tweeted the following:

Proud to cosponsor UN Resolution on #RoadSafety, which calls for laws to fight texting and driving. My remarks: http://t.co/XKQTH3vjz2
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) April 10, 2014

    In her remarks at the session, Power noted that although "improvements in road design, traffic management, safety equipment, and emergency response" could help reduce the 1.2 million annual worldwide traffic fatalities, "[m]ost important, however, is driver behavior." She continued:

Excessive speed and a failure to obey traffic rules are both killers. The role of alcohol in traffic fatalities is also well documented and should never be understated. In recent years, however, we have faced a new and deadly threat in the form of driving while texting or talking on the phone. Research shows that cell phone users are over 5 times more likely to get in an accident than undistracted drivers. And that texting while driving can delay a driver’s reactions as much as a 0.08 blood-alcohol level, the same as a drunk driver. Already, in the United States, more teenagers are killed while texting than because they have been drinking. But the problem is neither confined to teenagers nor to highly-industrialized countries; it is spreading as fast as technology.

    It is unclear how the push for such bans will fare, particularly in less developed countries where drivers routinely take shortcuts on sidewalks, and red lights and stop signs often seem optional. However, Power cited a new law just passed in Maryland that was named for Jake Owen, a five-year-old who was killed when a distracted driver rammed the boy's family's car.  The law increases penalties for drivers found responsible for causing an accident while talking on a cell phone or texting.


Note: A version of this post first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

Ban Ki-moon to Conference on Disarmament: "Arm Yourself With the Spirit of Blue Horse"

    When United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday, he did so against the counsel of some of his senior advisers.  He had some tough words for the assembly, suggesting they were captive to "old-think", warning them not to "hide behind utopian logic", and reminding them that the group had "remained unable to begin substantive negotiations" since at least 2011.

    But the Secretary-General also had some encouraging, if unconventional, words for the Conference as well, involving an imaginary animal: a blue horse.

Let me begin by wishing you all the best for the happy new year.  In my part of the world, 2014, this year has been designated the “year of the blue horse”.  

A horse represents of course vigour and speed – and a blue horse of course is an animal of imagination... 

Even though your mandate is to disarm, today, I say, “Arm yourself, arm yourself with the spirit of blue horse and run.  Run fast and run far.”

    Despite the Secretary-General's exhortation, if the past is any guide, the Conference on Disarmament will continue to find its goal as elusive as that mythical blue horse armed with its spirit or not.

U.N. Secretary General: 'Give Peace a Chance' in Syria

    Even as United Nations personnel are in Syria trying to investigate chemical weapons claims that have further exacerbated that country's bloody civil war, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was incongruously tasked with the celebration of the centennial of the Peace Palace in The Hague.  After praising the 100 year old "magnificent building" that houses the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Hague Academy of International Law and the Peace Palace Library, the Secretary-General urged all sides in Syria to "give peace a chance," noting the presence of the weapons inspectors currently in the country.  He also questioned the wisdom of supplying arms to either side in the conflict, asking "what have those arms achieved but more bloodshed?"
    Here are his full remarks on Syria:

Above all, I think about Syria, where a catastrophic civil war has killed more than 100,000 people by now, ignited sectarian tensions and generated instability across the region.
Now we have reached the most serious moment in this conflict.
The latest escalation has caused horrendous casualties.  And through images unlike any we have seen in the 21st century, it has also raised the spectre of chemical warfare.
The use of chemical weapons by anyone, for any reasons, under any circumstances, would be an atrocious violation of international law.
It is essential to establish the facts.  A United Nations investigation team is now on the ground to do just that.
Just days after the attacks, they have collected valuable samples and interviewed victims and witnesses. The team needs time to do its job.
Here in the Peace Palace, let us say: Give peace a chance.  Give diplomacy a chance.  Stop fighting and start talking.
And here in this hall dedicated to the rule of law, I say: let us adhere to the United Nations Charter.
To those providing weapons to either side, we must ask: what have those arms achieved but more bloodshed?
The military logic has given us a country on the verge of total destruction, a region in chaos and a global threat.  Why add more fuel to the fire?
We must pursue all avenues to get the parties to the negotiating table.  The joint envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League continues his efforts.
Most of all, the Security Council of the United Nations must uphold its responsibilities under the Charter - moral and political responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations.
Syria is the biggest challenge of war and peace in the world today.  The body entrusted with maintaining international peace and security cannot be missing in action.  The Council must at last find the unity to act.  It must use its authority for peace.

    So far, Russia and China have opposed any action by the UN against Syria.

Note: A version of this article first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

State Department Refers Questions About Ambassador Power ... to U.N.

    Newly confirmed United Nations Ambassador [Samantha] Power's absence from an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria has raised eyebrows and questions.  When pressed on the matter at Thursday's press briefing, State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki three times declined to give further details on Power's whereabout and referred further questions to the United Nations:

QUESTION: Last question: Where exactly was Ambassador Power that she could not take part in this emergency Security Council session?
MS. PSAKI: Well --
QUESTION: Where exactly was she?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I think the UN has spoken to this, but since you asked and I like to be transparent as possible, Ambassador Power is on a prearranged trip...
QUESTION: Is she on vacation?
MS. PSAKI: I don’t have any more details for you. I’d send you to the UN for her schedule.

 * * * * * *

QUESTION: I just don’t understand why you’re unwilling to tell us where Ambassador Power was. There’s no dishonor in having had a scheduled vacation, if that’s the case.
MS. PSAKI: She had a previously scheduled trip.
QUESTION: Where?
MS. PSAKI: I don’t think I need to go into more detail from here, and you’re welcome to call the United Nations, where she is the Ambassador.

    However, each usage of "UN" by Ms. Psaki was later footnoted in the State Department transcript as "U.S. Mission to the UN."  And as the State Department's organizational chart shows, the U.S. Mission to the UN is part of the State Department, directly under the secretary of state.

    Jen Psaki is the spokesperson for the State Department.


Note: A version of this article first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

U.S. to U.N.: 'The United States Does Not Operate Any Secret Detention Facilities'

    In a report to the United Nations Committee Against Torture, the Obama administration made its most unequivocal denial of the existence of secret detention facilities operated by any part of the U.S. government.  The document is a response to "55 questions prepared by the Committee and transmitted to the United States on January 10, 2010..." ranging from CIA rendition to allegations of torture by Chicago police in the 1980s. Among those questions were several regarding the detention of suspected terrorists and combatants.  Question 5(a) read in part:

Please provide information on: 

(a) Whether the State party has adopted a policy that ensures that no one is detained in any secret detention facility under its de facto effective control and that publicly condemns secret detention, pursuant the Committee's previous concluding observations (para. 17). Please disclose detailed information on the existence of any such facilities, in the past and present, and the authority under which they have been established.

      Although the answer provided by the United States is somewhat lengthy, it contains this flat denial [emphasis added]:

The United States does not operate any secret detention facilities. In some contexts, the United States operates battlefield transit and screening facilities, the locations of which are often classified for reasons of military necessity. All such facilities are operated consistent with applicable U.S. law and policy and international law, including Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, and DoD Directive 2310.01E. The ICRC and relevant host governments are informed about these facilities, and the ICRC has access to allindividuals interned by the United States in the context of armed conflict, consistent with DoD policy.

    As recently as January 2013, the Washington Post reported that some secret arrests and detentions were still taking place, and details in that case are still murky.
    The report to the U.N. also makes a flat denial regarding allegations stemming from 2007 reports of a secret detention facility on the island of Diego Garcia, a British territory in the Indian Ocean:

The United States does not detain any persons on Diego Garcia. As indicated above in response to Question 5(a), the United States does not have and has never had a detention facility on Diego Garcia.

 
Note: A version of this article first appeared at The Weekly Standard.