Weekly round-up 4/9: An interview with Gillian, UCS goes on Colbert, and more

This week’s roundup features both positive and negative news on the climate front. Our campaign director Gillian Caldwell was recently interviewed by Dowser while our ally the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) sent a climatologist to defend the latest science on the Colbert Report. Globally, the UN is beginning to plan another climate conference to find a global solution for climate change. Economically, the World Bank gave a massive loan to South Africa to build a dirty coal plant.

During her interview with Dowser, Gillian explained 1Sky’s role in human rights, the global economy and climate change policy. The interview starts by recounting Gillian’s time with WITNESS and traces her development as a human rights activist. Gillian goes on to explain that “climate change has some of the most significant human rights repercussions of any issue we are currently facing”. She then explains why she left WITNESS to become campaign director at 1Sky.

Earlier this week, Brenda Ekwurzel from the Union of Concerned Scientists appeared on the Colbert Report to defend climate science against high-profile meteorologist and climate skeptic Joe Bastardi from AccuWeather.com. The debate was centered on the alarmingly widespread dissension of meteorologists from the scientific evidence of man-made climate change. Colbert, practicing his usual satire, takes sides with Bastardi against Ekwurzel, which tells you who was actually making sense in this "discussion":

Globally, UN members have been meeting in Bonn, Germany to discuss more climate-related action after last year’s flawed Copenhagen conference:

Differences were striking as countries began the first round of climate talks since the disappointing summit in the Danish capital in December, which yielded a result far short of the goal set two years earlier of a new agreement to control greenhouse gases blamed for raising the Earth's average temperature.

Delegates were in disagreement about whether that missed 2009 deadline should be reset for this year, or whether to set their sights lower for an agreement on the architecture of what the final deal should look like. Also unclear is whether any agreement would be legally binding.

Few delegates believed a final agreement is possible this year, and probably will wait until the end of 2011.

The World Bank dedicated a massive 3.75 billion dollar loan to South Africa to build a dirty coal plant. This World Bank action will result in the building of one of the largest dirty coal plants and is in direction contention with international protests and sharp criticism from environmental groups. The U.S. Treasury Department claimed the loan was incompatible with the bank's commitment to promoting low carbon economic development and abstained from voting on the loan, as did the the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Italy. But environmental groups weren't satisfied:

Environmentalists who had urged the United States to vote against the plant slammed the decision to abstain. Kresowik accused America of "throwing its vote away ... throwing its influence away." Many argued the vote was incompatible with a December guideline the Obama administration issued directing U.S. directors of multilateral development banks to discourage coal loans.

This tussle over this new dirty coal plant is only the latest example of the need for developed nations to assist less-developed countries in transitioning to a clean energy economy. Funding for this transition should be part of any comprehensive climate and clean energy bill in the U.S. and of any global climate deal.