Climate Change

"Visiting Malaysia in November, Obama said he would raise concerns about government transparency and press freedom in his meeting with Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is embroiled in a financial scandal. At a town hall meeting, Obama spoke up for the press being 'able to report on what is happening in current affairs,' and for 'transparency and accountability.' Back home, though, Obama isn’t practicing what he preaches."

"A solid majority of Americans say the United States should join an international treaty to limit the impact of global warming, but on this and other climate-related questions, opinion divides sharply along partisan lines, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll."

"The Environmental Protection Agency released its much-delayed biofuel mandate on Monday, raising the amounts of biofuel that refiners are required to blend into conventional vehicle fuel from levels proposed in May."

"World leaders launched an ambitious attempt on Monday to hold back rising temperatures, with the United States and China leading calls for the climate summit in Paris to mark a decisive turn in the fight against global warming."

"LE BOURGET, France — From deserts encroaching on African farmland to rising sea levels shrinking islands of the South Pacific, leaders of poor nations most affected by climate change shared their stories of global warming with leaders of some of the richest on Tuesday."

"As the Paris climate change summit kicks off, China, the world’s leading carbon-emitting country, is choked in pollution. The Ministry of Environmental Protection said Sunday that heavy smog had covered China’s north, including Beijing, for three days in a row."

"In recent remarks Robert E. Murray, the chief executive officer of Murray Energy, the largest privately held coal mining company in America, enthusiastically praised Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, for leading an investigation into prominent climate scientists and environmental officials."

"Some 180 countries have already presented plans to cut or rein in their climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. That's a huge step forward for the U.N. climate talks but a host of difficult issues remain to be resolved before a new climate agreement can be adopted in Paris."

"France has put 24 green activists under house arrest ahead of the United Nations climate talks, using emergency laws put in place following the Paris shootings, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Saturday."

"Getting the world’s governments to reach a global agreement at the United Nations’ climate conference in Paris is going to require careful politics, but the effort may be up against an even tougher challenge: mathematics."