Posted on 09/26/2007 10:14:52 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK - Across town from the United Nations General Assembly session, other world leaders, celebrities and scholars gathered Wednesday for the third annual Clinton Global Initiative conference to discuss subjects of global importance.
Climate change — one of four main topics of the conference this year, along with poverty, health and education — took center stage Wednesday morning as the three-day conference began.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist joined Clinton to announce plans by Florida Power & Light to build a solar power plant as part of a $2.4 billion clean energy program.
"This is a huge deal for America and I think potentially a huge deal for people all around the world who want to do this," Clinton said.
"As we all know, Florida is one of the sunniest places in America, but this is the sort of thing, if they can prove it works, it can be done in sunny places all over the world," he said. "If you mix it in to your overall power mix, the extra cost is not particularly great."
Clinton also praised the Republican governor for signing an order that sets a goal of reducing the state's carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and to 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050. Crist had his own thanks, telling the Democrat that his annual conference and other efforts would help states like Florida that would be most vulnerable state to climate change.
The conference is filled with panel discussions and smaller working sessions about four broad topics: poverty relief, global health, education and energy and climate change.
"For three days every year, the annual meeting is the epicenter for global philanthropy and is the forum for people who want to get involved and to make a difference," said Clinton spokesman Ben Yarrow.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, tennis star Andre Agassi and media mogul Rupert Murdoch were among the celebrities on the guests list this year.
Those who attend pay a $15,000 registration fee and are also expected to commit time or money to the conference's big issues. Those who do not fulfill their pledges are not invited back; Yarrow said there were five people this year whose registration fees were not accepted.
More than $10 billion was pledged in the first two conferences. Accomplishments since the conference was started, according to Yarrow, include:
_More than 857,000 children under 5 years old have gotten access to lifesaving medical treatment like vaccines.
_By the end of 2007, 34 million people will have been treated for neglected tropical diseases.
_More than 3.2 million people in the developing world have gained access to clean energy services.
The foundation has plans to expand, Yarrow said, with a conference planned for Asia sometime in the next year; the launch of a Web site, mycommitment.org, and the creation of college groups affiliated with the Clinton Global Initiative.
___
Associated Press Writer Deepti Hajela contributed to this report.
Former President Bill Clinton listens during a panel discussion at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007 in New York. The conference, running through Friday, Sept. 28, 2007, is focused on finding ways to solve some of the world's most pressing problems including poverty and climate change. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
On the Net: Clinton Global Initiative
Australian Prime Minister John Howard (R) takes his morning walk with four activists dressed as polar bears, in Sydney, on 20 September. Howard warned against linking Australia's worst drought on record to doomsday forecasts about climate change Wednesday, saying "a sense of proportion" was needed.(AFP/Greenpeace/File/Belinda Pratten)
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks with panelists about his new book, 'Giving,' in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, September 4, 2007. Clinton will take his philanthropic summit to Hong Kong next year, hoping that Asians will keep issues such as poverty, health and climate change on the agenda as economies from India to China grow rapidly. (Chip East/Reuters)
This Clinton Global Initiative is a bunch of BS. Even worse is that a man whose criminality should have been punished severely a long time ago is basking in the spotlight, while people who should no better continue to grovel at the mention of his name.
Clinton ping - with barf alert!
Amazing.
This, ahem, “news” is only news to those who want it to be.
The press collectively truly are filth.
Could someone photshop the “GIVING” on that picture into “RAPING”? It would clear up the cognitive dissonance I’m experiencing.
Thanks for the ping!
Unfortunately,
Norman Hsu couldn’t make it..
probably why
Bubba looks so glum. ;-)
LOLOL!
$15k? Who the heck can put up that kind of money? I can’t think of a single guy from Alabama...with that kinda cash...who just throws it at some Clinton meeting that is simply coffee and carbon discussions. Now if you offered up a chance to talk baseball with Pete Rose, or an hour of real estate chat by Donald Trump...that might be worth.
Thanks for the ping, I just hope that this doesn’t mean he and Hillary are planning to take over the world. I know people were talking about Bill’s plans to take over the United Nations. That would be really great if she is the President. I know they are aiming for something big like that, why else all the illegal activities and all the secrecy? I mean come on, they operate like the Mafia, you know there has to be a big reason why, it’s not just because Hillary wants to be President for 8 years. This is a sick ambition that they have been planning since before they graduated from college, and they have others who have been planning it FOR and WITH them. It’s obvious these people are up to no good, and they use high sounding ideas to justify both their behavior and their activities. Personally, I believe that good people don’t plan to be in such high levels of power, it happens because it is a part of their destiny. When people do this much planning this far in advance it’s because they have evil intentions. I believe in God and I think when people do this much planning God has been left completely out of the equation and this is never a good sign, especially for those of us who understand why it’s not a good idea.
ping
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