John Kerry will visit Antarctica (climate change) and represent the US at COP22

[karynnj]

to do more work on climate change. (In between he goes to Oman to discuss Yemen and a peaceful settlement there. ) In the Antarctica, he will be hosted by the National Science Foundation -- https://www.facebook.com/Division-of-Polar-Programs-National-Science-Foundation-1392901317615113/

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/11/264108.htm

Today the Paris Accord officially went into practice. I liked Samantha Power's tweet on that -

#ParisAgreement is officially intn'l law today. As @JohnKerry showed, this is promise to our grandchildren–fighting for sustainable future.
https://twitter.com/AmbassadorPower/status/794589324327157760

[bigdarryl]

1. Why isn't.this getting reported

[karynnj]

2. There is a big election next week?

Snark aside, the three major accomplishments on climate change this fall have gotten almost no coverage. Long term, they, in conjunction with the Paris Climate Accord, may be the most important Obama accomplishments.

The accomplishments are:
1) Getting the Paris Climate Change implemented years faster than most agreements are due to a huge effort to get other countries on board quickly. This is most important if - heaven forbid - Trump were to win. He now can not really get the US out for three years - and it takes a year to actually exit.

2) An amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which was designed to govern acid rain, was passed - again with a lot of US leadership - to work with industry to eliminate over time compounds used in air conditioning that are extremely bad for climate change.

3) An agreement that deals with the carbon footprint of aviation.

Between this and other environmental actions taken by Obama, he will have done the most any President has done for the environment. A good part of the credit for this should go to John Kerry, a life long environmentalist who suggested that he wanted the environment to be as much a signature issue for him as women's and children's issues were for HRC. The common wisdom when he became secretary was that nothing could happen on climate change diplomatically. Kerry's long ties to China's climate chnage negotiators opened the possibility - and the US/China pact made Paris possible.

[karynnj]

3. Here is the AP story - note that the writer sarcastically rules out diplomacy with penguins

http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20161104/john-kerry-plans-antarctica-trip-to-combat-climate-change

[MBS]

4. This is fantastic!!!!

This is a serious visit. It's one thing to visit Ross Island. It's a whole other thing to go to the research station at the South Pole. And, as the State Dept. press release said:

He will be the first Secretary of State and the most senior U.S. government official to ever travel to Antarctica.

At McMurdo Station he will meet with scientists and researchers studying a wide range of subjects in the extreme south of the planet, including climate change. He will also see firsthand part of the recently established Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area, the world’s largest marine protected area (1.55 million square kilometers or 598,000 square miles). The Secretary will be hosted by the U.S. National Science Foundation, which manages the U.S. Antarctic program.

Bravo, Sec. Kerry. And safe travels.