>> LAST NIGHT A SERIES OF PROTESTS AND MARCHES TOOK PLACE
IN CITIES AROUND THE WORLD, WITH TENS OF THOUSANDS RALLYING TO
FORCE WORLD LEADERS TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO AVERT
DISASTROUS CLIMATE CHANGE OVER THE NEXT 70 OR SO YEARS. THEY
ARE DOING IT IN ADVANCE OF THE COP 21, WERE DIPLOMATS FROM
MANY DIFFERENT COUNTRIES ARE GATHERING IN PARIS TO DISCUSS A
ROADMAP FOR MANY COUNTRIES TO CUT CLIMATE EMISSIONS, AND
HOPEFULLY STRENGTHEN THOSE OVER TIME. WE ARE GOING TO TALK
ABOUT THE PLANS, SPOILER ALERT, RIGHT NOW IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE
THEY WILL DO ENOUGH. BUT IN CITIES AROUND THE WORLD THESE
PROTESTS WERE GOING ON. UNFORTUNATELY THEY WERE GOING TO
BE HEADQUARTERED BY A MASSIVE PROTEST IN PARIS DURING THE
TALKS, BUT UNFORTUNATELY IT'S ANOTHER TRAGIC CONSEQUENCE OF
THE PARIS TERRORIST ATTACK, THOSE SORTS OF PROTESTS ARE NOW
ILLEGAL IN PARIS. SO COPS HAVE BEEN BREAKING THEM UP WITH TEAR
GAS, FORCING PEOPLE TO DISPERSE, AND IT SUCKS BECAUSE THE PEOPLE
IN FRANCE ARE PERHAPS THE MOST DRIVEN TO GET THESE WORLD
LEADERS TO DO WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO DO. BUT LET'S TALK
ABOUT SOME OF WHAT THE COUNTRIES GOING INTO THESE TALKS HAVE
PLEDGED TO LIMIT THEIR EMISSIONS IN THE FUTURE --
>> THAT IS MORE IMPRESSIVE.
>> THAT IS BAD NEWS --
>> YOU ARE SEEING THAT SOME OF THESE COUNTRIES -- CHINA STILL
WANTS TO DEVELOP, THEY BELIEVE THAT TO DO THAT THEY WILL HAVE TO
USE DIRTY ENERGY, AND CHINA AND INDIA WILL OFTEN CRITICIZE THE
E.U. AND THE UNITED STATES SAYING LOOK, YOU ALREADY
INDUSTRIALIZED USING COAL, OIL, THINGS LIKE THAT, WHY SHOULDN'T WE
BE ABLE TO DO THAT? WE WILL CIRCLE BACK TO THE CASE OF INDIA IN A
SECOND, BUT I WANT TO BRING UP THIS CHART. IT WILL SHOW YOU
GLOBAL EMISSIONS BY COUNTRY RIGHT NOW, AND YOU SEE THAT
CHINA RAPIDLY IS ACCELERATING OVER THE PAST 15 YEARS, THE U.S.
INCREASINGLY BEING GENERALLY QUITE STABLE FOR ABOUT 40 YEARS
OR SO, AND CHINA, AN INCREASINGLY LARGE AREA, BUT YOU
SEE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. THIS IS A
WORLDWIDE EFFORT, IT WILL BE NECESSARY TO STOP. IT IS
GENERALLY SEEN AS WE DON'T WANT MORE THAN A TWO DEGREE INCREASE
IN GLOBAL TEMPERATURES. EVEN THAT WILL BE DISASTROUS, BUT
MORE THAN THAT WILL BE EVEN WORSE. BRING UP THE NEXT CHART,
IT WILL SHOW YOU OUR CURRENT POLICIES, AND WHERE THE FORECAST
AFFECTING GLOBAL TEMPERATURES WILL BE. YOU ARE SEEING THERE,
PLUS 3.3 DEGREES WITH THE CURRENT POLICY. THERE IS SOME
VARIANCE, POTENTIALLY, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT
IS GOING TO HAPPEN. BUT WITH THE CURRENT POLICY, EVEN WITH WHAT
IS EXPECTED TO COME OUT OF THE COP 21, WE ARE IN TERRIBLE
TERRITORY HERE. IF WE CAN INCREASE THE PLEDGES, THERE ARE
DIFFERENT POLICIES THAT CAN BE PUT INTO EFFECT TO LOWER THE
AMOUNT OF HEATING TO JUST TWO DEGREES OR MAYBE EVEN LESS, BUT
THAT WILL RELY ON ADVANCING TECHNOLOGY AND HOPEFULLY PUTTING
A FRAMEWORK INTO PLACE AT THIS CONFERENCE WHERE EVERY FIVE OR
10 YEARS, IT IS CURRENTLY BEING DEBATED, WE CAN INSPIRE
COUNTRIES, SPUR COUNTRIES, TO DO WHAT IS NECESSARY TO
INTEGRATE NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND TO EXCEED THE CURRENT
EXPECTATIONS OF WHAT WILL COME OUT OF THESE TALKS.
>>THIS STORY IS A MIXED BAG, BECAUSE THERE IS SOME PROGRESS
ON DEALING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE, TAKING THE THREAT SERIOUSLY, AND
MAKING SOME REAL SACRIFICES IN ORDER TO AT LEAST MITIGATE THE
PROBLEM. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THESE LEADERS OF ALL THESE
VARIOUS COUNTRIES HAVE MADE THESE PLEDGES, WHICH IS GOOD.
THEY MADE THE PLEDGES ON THEIR OWN BASED ON THEIR OWN
BUSINESSES, THEIR OWN UNIQUE SITUATIONS IN THESE COUNTRIES.
THEY THINK THEY CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN. ANOTHER THING TO TAKE
INTO CONSIDERATION IS THAT EVEN THOUGH THESE PLEDGES HAVE BEEN
MADE, YOU HAVE TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE LAWMAKERS
WITHIN THOSE COUNTRIES WHO MIGHT HAVE SOME VESTED INTEREST IN
PREVENTING THESE PLEDGES FROM GOING THROUGH. THE UNITED STATES
WOULD BE A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THAT. OBAMA HAS BEEN FIGHTING
WHEN IT COMES TO CLIMATE CHANGE, BUT OF COURSE LAWMAKERS IN THE
UNITED STATES HAVE BEEN BOUGHT OFF BY OIL AND COAL, SO THEY ARE
REFUSING TO PASS THE APPROPRIATE LAWS TO KEEP CARBON EMISSIONS
LOW. AT THE SAME TIME, I LOVE THAT ALL OF THESE MAJOR
COUNTRIES ARE COMING TOGETHER AND THERE IS NO DEBATE AS TO
WHETHER OR NOT CLIMATE CHANGE EXISTS OR WHETHER OR NOT IT IS
MAN-MADE, THEY'VE ALREADY ACCEPTED THAT, THEY KNOW THAT IS
THE TRUTH, NOW THEY ARE MOVING FORWARD TO COME UP WITH SOME
REAL SOLUTIONS. THE SOLUTIONS THEY HAVE PLEDGED,
UNFORTUNATELY, ARE NOT ENOUGH, BUT RIGHT NOW THERE IS SUPPOSED
TO BE SOME SORT OF POLITICAL NEGOTIATION AND ALSO SOME
FOREIGN AID TO SEE WHETHER OR NOT SOME OF THESE COUNTRIES
WILL MAKE EVEN STRONGER PLEDGES.
>> WHETHER THE CURRENT PLAN BEING HAMMERED OUT NOW IS GOING
TO BE ENOUGH, IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT WILL, THE FACT THAT SO
MANY OF THESE COUNTRIES HAVE, AS YOU SAID, ON THEIR OWN, WITH
THESE PLANS WORKED TO UNDERCUT ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS
ARGUMENTS AGAINST US DOING ANYTHING HERE IN THE UNITED
STATES, IS THAT WHY SHOULD WE HARM OURSELVES IF ALL THESE
OTHER COUNTRIES ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO POLLUTE? THEY CAN
SAY THAT, BUT THE COUNTRIES ARE WORKING TO LIMIT EMISSIONS.
MAYBE NOT AS MUCH AS WE WOULD LIKE, BUT IF A COUNTRY LIKE
CHINA IS WILLING TO DRASTICALLY CHANGE THEIR ENERGY CONSUMPTION
OVER THE NEXT 14 OR 15 YEARS, PERHAPS WE CAN DO SOMETHING
HERE. AND I LOVE THAT ON EVERY OTHER ISSUE WE ARE EXPECTED IN
AMERICA TO BE LEADERS. THE PRESIDENT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A
LEADER. WE DON'T FOLLOW, WE LEAD. WHEN IT COMES TO CLIMATE
CHANGE, MAYBE ONCE EVERY OTHER COUNTRY DOES SOMETHING, WE WILL.
INTERESTING HOW THAT WORKS OUT. YOU POINTED OUT THE NEED FOR
FINANCIAL AID, THERE ARE COUNTRIES LIKE INDIA, OTHER COUNTRIES THAT
CAN'T NECESSARILY AFFORD EITHER THE TECHNOLOGY TO LOWER THEIR
EMISSIONS, OR THEY BELIEVE THAT IF THEY DON'T USE THINGS LIKE
COAL THEY WILL HARM THEIR ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY, THEIR
DEVELOPMENT, OVER THE NEXT TWO DECADES. SO THEY NEED TO BE
COMPENSATED FOR THAT. THAT IS A LOT OF MONEY, HUNDREDS OF
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
ON THE OTHER HAND, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE CONTINUATION
OF OUR SPECIES, SO MAYBE WE SHOULD MAKE THAT PAYMENT.