COPENHAGEN — A much-anticipated global meeting of nearly 200 nations — all seeking what has so far been elusive common ground on the issue of climate change — got under way here on Monday with an impassioned airing of what leaders here called the political and moral imperatives at hand.

Tightening Fears Send Stock Futures Lower

U.S. stocks rose slightly Monday, as gains in the utilities and health-care sectors were offset by concerns over whether interest-rate increases could come sooner than previously expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 8 points, to 10397 in early trading. American Express was one of its best performers, up 1.3% following an upgrade of credit-card companies by analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. However, Bank of America slipped 1.2%, and General Electric fell 1.1%.

How About a Public Option With Private Insurance?

Here’s an angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin question to kick off the week: If the public option offers private insurance, is it still the public option?

To win the favor of few key centrists wary of creating a government-backed insurance plan, Senate Dems may shift from the pure-play public option — a government-run insurance plan — to a plan more like the one used to cover federal employees. The basic idea: Allow people to choose from an array of private non-profit insurance plans, in a system overseen by a government office. To get some idea of how this might work, check out the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Burnett holds the opinion that politicians are offering Americans a misguided climate change policy.  He discusses the emissions reductions that are being proposed and contends that global warming has always been political.

Timothy Wirk was the lead climate negotiator in Kyoto and stands by the statement that even if the global warming issue ended up being a non-issue, then it would still be the right thing to move forward with it as that would ensure that the government is being responsible. He continues to explain his view on the reasonable response to climate change.

Marston affirms that there isn’t any scientific doubt regarding global warming and states that the politics are coming together. He further speaks about the best way to go about solving global warming with low cost and minimal affects on American jobs.

The panelists spend the bulk of the segment offering often opposing views on the Kyoto Treaty, green house gas reductions and the economy as it relates to the aforementioned. Using graphics and expert opinion this segment wrestles with the politics behind climate change and whether the Kyoto Treaty is as effective as it could be.

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12.30.07 – 1702

• Sterling Burnett, Ph.D, Senior Fellow, National Center for Policy Analysis
• Drew Thornley, Policy Analyst, Center for Economic Freedom, Texas Public Policy Foundation
• James D. Marston, Director of State Climate Initiatives – Texas, Environmental Defense Fund

James Marston opens up the conversation on climate science and global warming by reading a statement from Texas A&M outlining the risks of climate change, validity of allegations and what must be done. His co-panelist’s quick rebuttal challenges his view noting that at one time Galileo was wrong.

Throughout this heated debate the panelists challenge opposing views with facts, statistics and graphs.

Drew Thorney contends with the methods that are being used by global warming players such as Al Gore. He explains that the scientific method has always been the way that science worked, and it can’t be changed.

The issue of human activity and its effects on the issue of global warming is often brought down to the question of c02 levels.  Many scientists pose that the co2 levels dictate temperatures and are a big player in warming. The experts spend time discusses this, disagreeing and agreeing on various points. Join us as we talk about climate science and global warming.

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1701 – 12.23.07