Chen-ou Liu's Translation Project: First English-Chinese Haiku and Tanka Blog

Friday, November 12, 2021

The End (of COP26)

This Brave New World, XXIX
written in response to The Hill's Nov. 10 News : Nancy Pelosi defends "America's moral authority" on climate action and The Washington Post's Nov. 11 News: U.S. and China issue joint pledge to slow climate change


   Ame      rica 
i   s   a   l   l   i   n
with arms linked
young activists chanting
blahblahblah, clean up your mess

a pundit ranting
beneath slate-grey skies
during this decade
there will be talk after talk
between the US and China


FYI: Biden administration holds largest oil and gas sale in US history, The Boston Globe, Nov 17 And Biden Administration to Hold Massive Auction for Oil and Gas Leases in Gulf of Mexico, Democracy Now, Nov. 18

Climate activists have condemned the Biden administration for proceeding with an auction of over 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas extraction. It’s the largest-ever sale of drilling leases in the Gulf, and comes just days after the U.N. global climate summit wrapped. An attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity said “It’s hard to imagine a more hypocritical and dangerous thing for the administration to do. It’s incredibly reckless and we think unlawful too.”


Added: This Brave New World, XXX

opposite 
the summit entrance
a giant WWII-style
blood-red Climate Siren
blasting in the morning chill

FYI: Cop26 deal falters as China calls on countries to decide their own emissions cuts, The Telegraph, Nov. 14

The historic climate deal secured at Cop26 was thrown into “real jeopardy” by a last-minute deal between India and China to object to calls to phase-out coal power and fossil fuel subsidies, Alok Sharma said on Sunday...

Lessons from COP26 for a Just and Effective Transition:We need fast action, and realistic plans that put communities firstThe Tyee, Nov. 15

In a powerful speech, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley reminded the world that since the economic downturn in 2008, the wealthiest nations have spent $25 trillion on economic recovery, of which $9 trillion was spent during the pandemic. While that amount could have been used to keep the planet within 1.5 C global temperature rise, much of it was spent on COVID economic recovery for the fossil fuel industry.