It look s a lot like foreign government spitting on the shoes of the US. India has publicly – and very unexpectedly – told Obama and the US to stuff it when it comes to climate “demands” from Obama.
India won’t bend to demands from the Obama administration or threats from the U.S. Congress to adopt legally binding caps on its carbon emissions, the country’s environment minister told visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday.
“There is simply no case for the pressure” the U.S. is exerting, considering India produces among the lowest per capita emissions in the world, Minister Jairam Ramesh told Clinton during an unexpected discussion of climate negotiations during an event intended to showcase U.S.-Indian cooperation on clean energy at a “green” office building outside New Delhi.
“As if this pressure was not enough, we also face the threat of carbon tariffs on our exports to countries such as yours,” Ramesh said, referring to a climate-change bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on June 26 that imposes tariffs on exports from countries that refuse to adopt greenhouse gas controls by 2020.
This was a very clear slap at Obama and at the US House of Representatives and their crap and tax bill. It is also a very clear signal about how the rest of the world sees Obama.
He is not “resetting” anything. He is perceived as a weakling. Otherwise, India would never have blindsided the US secretary of state this way.
Ir wasn’t surprising when Iran and various Islamic fundamentalist groups told Obama to stuff it with his overtures. But when one of our supposed friends does the same thing, it pretty much paints the exact picture Gaius mentioned – Obama is seen as a nobody lightweight among other world leaders. Sarkozy of France said as much not too long ago. If leaders as different as those of France,India and Iran have reached that conclusion, can the rest of the world be far behind?