U.S.-led climate deal under threat in Copenhagen ["Deal" falling apart]

Reuters ^ | Dec 19, 2009 | Reuters

[FocusNexus]

U.N. climate talks fell into crisis on Saturday after some developing nations angrily rejected a plan worked out by U.S. President Barack Obama and leaders of other major economies for fighting global warming.

Countries including Venezuela, Sudan and Tuvalu said they opposed a deal spearheaded on Friday in Copenhagen by the United States, China, India, South Africa and Brazil at the summit. The deal would need unanimous backing to be adopted.

The document "is a solution based on the same very values, in our opinion, that channeled six million people in Europe into furnaces," said Sudan's Lumumba Stanislaus Di-aping.

"The reference to the Holocaust is, in this context, absolutely despicable," said Anders Turesson, chief negotiator of Sweden.

[lapsus calami]

 

 

Hey there - thanks for the insightful reply. Yeah, there was a big splash made about the changing over of the government of Hong Kong back in '97, but you can bet your sweet bippy there was no change in status when it came to the financials and commerce. The same goes for any of the colonial powers of old, where ever they had holdings, be it Africa, the Caribbean, South America, the Pacific - wherever. Colonialism never really died - it couldn't. Way too much money at stake to let loose and just walk away. Follow the money - always.

 

 

[gleeaikin]

Hi, I was just checking out some old posts about strawbale construction and discovered I had never answered your question about cost per sq. foot. The high quality, fully permitted, 2,600 sq. ft., 2 story home my brothers built in a wealthy county near Washington, DC. cost about 15 to 20% less than conventional construction. A small one bedroom straw bale home I visited near Pensacola, Florida, was built in the early to mid 1990s for a handicapped person by skilled volunteer labor. It was one story, on a poured concrete slab, on land owned by the young person’s parents. I was told it cost about $15,000, and in 2006 when I saw it, the cost might be $25,000.

You can probably find further information on this house in the International Strawbale Directory (Google). There is also a variety of information on the other 500 to 600 homes listed for the United States, which might give you an idea of the cost. By no means all SB houses in the US are on this list.