Our Politicians Failed Us in Copenhagen and Will Soon Regret It

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World leaders failed to deliver a legally binding deal in Copenhagen that will begin to reduce the world’s greenhouse gas emissions that are the cause of climate change.

It’s that simple.

While we can point to the attempted happy face that politicians are trying to put on the so-called “Copenhagen Accord” that came out of this two-year negotiating process, the bottom line is that what has been delivered here is a promise to do something later on down the road.

Politicians love to make commitments to commit to action later. This “let’s strike a committee” technique allows them to look like they’re doing something while doing nothing at all.

Outside of anything politicians did over the last two years in this negotiating process, there were a few bright lights.

First was the coming together of disparate groups behind the single issue of climate change. Whether it is human rights groups, environmentalists or anti-poverty campaigners, almost the entire body known as civil society has now made climate change an important mandate within their organization. This has galvanized a worldwide movement that will put immense pressure on world leaders in the coming months.

The second bright light is an outcropping of the first.

I have never had so many people I know, everyday people who are normally not interested in the issue, want to talk about climate change. The everyday person has woken up to the issue of climate change and is interested in not only learning more about it, they are starting to question the lack of concern and desire for immediate action on behalf of they’re elected officials.

Combine these two bright lights: the galvanization of a worldwide movement and the concern of everyday people and you have a formula for success. If I were a politician, I would be sweating today because the days of platitudes and pretty “green” photo-ops is over. Failure to deliver an international treaty in the coming months will see a lot of grumpy voters in forthcoming elections. 

So our politicians have failed us here in Copenhagen and anyone who says they have not needs to take off their rose-colored glasses and take this failure for what it is: an opportunity to fight like never before with the support of more ground troops than any time in history.

There is a coming storm on the issue of climate change.

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Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmogBlog.

He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning.

Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks.

Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder.

Prior to DeSmogBlog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health.

In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications.

Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

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