Clinton Publicly Rebuked in India

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and India's Junior Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh

What a God Awful Disaster:

But simmering grievances about how countries should share the burden of cutting greenhouse gases abruptly changed the mood. No sooner had Mrs. Clinton marveled at the building’s environmentally friendly features — windows that flood rooms with light but keep out heat — than her Indian hosts vented frustration at American pressure on India to cut its emissions.

In a meeting with Mrs. Clinton, India’s environment and forests minister, Jairam Ramesh, said there was “no case” for the West to push India to reduce carbon dioxide emissions when it already had among the lowest levels of emissions on a per capita basis. “If this pressure is not enough,” he said, “we also face the threat of carbon tariffs on our exports to countries such as yours.”

Rather than projecting solidarity, the visit ended up laying bare the deep divide between developed and developing countries on climate policy — a gulf the Obama administration will have to bridge as it tries to forge a new global agreement on climate change later this year.

Mrs. Clinton, in the first visit to India by a top Obama administration official, offered reassurances that the United States had no intention of forcing India into an economically crippling deal.

“No one wants to, in any way, stall or undermine economic growth that is necessary to lift millions more people out of poverty,” Mrs. Clinton said at a news conference. “The United States does not, and will not, do anything that would limit India’s economic progress.”

American officials said they did not expect these differences to be aired during what was supposed to be an upbeat event, focusing on technology. But they said they did not feel betrayed.

And why should India listen to us as we destroy ourselves with cap and tax. By the way Clinton should read the Waxmen bill, its does contain the very economic threats the Indians are complaining about. As for Clinton she apparently spent most of the time ogling a "green" building that was showcased as some sort of Potemkin structure for gullible foreigners.