Obama and the EU: an Atlantic agenda for globalization

Source: EU Delegation to the US

The inauguration of incoming President Obama is not just an American event, it is a global event and Europeans are following it with interest and fascination. In a letter sent to the incoming President of the United States, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso outlined his vision for a more outward-looking and engaged transatlantic partnership.

Google’s secretive environmental footprint

Source: The Sunday Times

Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research. While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g.

Hillary Clinton’s ’smart power’ mix of diplomacy and defense

Source: Associated Press | by Robert Burns and Anne Flaherty

At the threshold of the world stage as America’s next top diplomat, Hillary Rodham Clinton is vowing to renew U.S. leadership through a “smart power” mix of diplomacy and defense. In remarks prepared for delivery at her Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to be secretary of state also promised to push for stronger U.S. partnerships around the globe.

France and Germany call for a UN Economic Council and ask US to listen to G20

Source: Reuters | by Anna Willard and Francois Murphy

France and Germany said on Thursday Washington was no longer able to impose its views on other major powers and they hoped incoming U.S. President Barack Obama would listen to them at a summit on overhauling the financial system.

U.S. to airlift supplies to Darfur

Source: The International Herald Tribune | By Sheryl Gay Stolberg

With just 15 days left in office, President George W. Bush announced that he had ordered an immediate airlift to deliver vehicles and equipment to the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan to bolster a struggling international peacekeeping effort there.

In Obama’s team, two camps on climate

Source: The New York Times | by John M. Broder

In the fall of 1997, when the Clinton administration was forming its position for the Kyoto climate treaty talks, Lawrence H. Summers argued that the United States would risk damaging the domestic economy if it set overly ambitious goals for reducing carbon emissions. Mr. Summers, then the deputy Treasury secretary, said at the time that there was a compelling scientific case for action on global warming but that a too-rapid move against emissions of greenhouse gases risked dire and unknowable economic consequences.

Czech Euro-dissident takes EU helm after Sarkozy

Source: The Christian Science Monitor | By Jeff White

He has called global warming a myth, backed Russia’s recent invasion of Georgia, likened bank bailouts to socialism, and refuses to fly the European Union flag over his office in the Prague Castle. On nearly every issue of significance, Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus is at odds with Brussels, and he seldom misses a chance to make note of this.