Climate Talks Hike Carbon Footprint in Copenhagen

The UK Telegraph provides a seriously amusing redux of the first day of the Climate Talks and is well worth a read. Private jets, private cars, a carbon footprint that displays no serious effort to contain itself - these are the earmarks of a great party. However both critics from the Left and Right wrangle with the Cap n' Trade of this junket. Will there be serious negotiations?

The Obama Administration declared yesterday that, yes - greenhouse gasses including carbon dioxide emissions "threaten the public health and welfare of the American people," thus empowering the agency to regulate a wide range of CO2-emitting industries under provisions of the Clean Air Act. President Obama intends to drop-in on the Climate Talks after receiving his Nobel Prize in Norway, a photo op which is likely to draw all sorts of praise and criticism.


From Americans for Prosperity

The provided video from Americans For Prosperity, critical of the Climate Talks and its impact on American capitalism, displays the mega-use of private cars carrying delegates while public transportation stands unused. Of course, there is the excuse that delegates must be concerned with security, but the irony is nonetheless delicious.

C-SPAN: Sunlight Foundation Seeks to Make Government Transparent

Ellen Miller, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Sunlight Foundation, discusses ways to use the Internet to make government more transparent.

Formed three years ago, the Sunlight Foundation set out to offer grants to organizations such as Opensecrets.org, Followthemoney.org and OpenCongress.org to digitize and present information that was only available on paper and sometimes only in the obscure recesses of a government building basement.

A soon to be released database called Propublica focuses on lobbyists working for foreign entities. SFPartytime.org focuses on the fundraising events of members of Congress which are sponsored by interested entities. Subsidy Scope reports on the federal subsidies programs. The Sunlight Fdtn is also trying to drag the House and Senate into the 21st century, but that's slower going, particularly with the Senate.

Hottest topic right now? You guessed it. The health care industry.