WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Climate change can no longer be ignored from either a scientific or an economic viewpoint, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the U.S. Congress Tuesday.
"We need an agreement on one objective: Global warming must not exceed 2 degrees Celsius," Merkel said about December's U.N. Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark. "To achieve this, we need the readiness of all countries to accept internationally binding obligations. We cannot afford missing the objectives in climate protection that science tells us have to be met."
Anything less, she told the joint session through the translator, "would not only be irresponsible from an environmental point of view, it would also be technologically shortsighted, for the development of new technologies in the field of energy offers great opportunities for growth and innovative jobs."
Merkel said today's generation must prove itself capable of meeting 21st century challenges, meaning tearing down philosophical walls just as Germans tore down the Berlin Wall to unify the country 20 years ago.
"(What) is important is to see to it that we tear down walls in the minds of people, walls that separate different concepts of life that make it difficult, time and again, for us to understand each other all over the world," she said.
Concerning the Middle East, she said, different solutions are available to create peaceful coexistence.
"Tolerance and showing tolerance means showing respect for the history, the tradition, the religion and the cultural identity of others," she said. "Tolerance does not mean anything goes."
Finishing her remarks in English, Merkel said the Freedom Bell in Berlin, just as Philadelphia's Liberty Bell, is a symbol that "reminds us that freedom does not come about of itself. It must be struggled for, and then defended anew, every day of our lives."
"We need an agreement on one objective: Global warming must not exceed 2 degrees Celsius," Merkel said about December's U.N. Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark. "To achieve this, we need the readiness of all countries to accept internationally binding obligations. We cannot afford missing the objectives in climate protection that science tells us have to be met."
Anything less, she told the joint session through the translator, "would not only be irresponsible from an environmental point of view, it would also be technologically shortsighted, for the development of new technologies in the field of energy offers great opportunities for growth and innovative jobs."
Merkel said today's generation must prove itself capable of meeting 21st century challenges, meaning tearing down philosophical walls just as Germans tore down the Berlin Wall to unify the country 20 years ago.
"(What) is important is to see to it that we tear down walls in the minds of people, walls that separate different concepts of life that make it difficult, time and again, for us to understand each other all over the world," she said.
Concerning the Middle East, she said, different solutions are available to create peaceful coexistence.
"Tolerance and showing tolerance means showing respect for the history, the tradition, the religion and the cultural identity of others," she said. "Tolerance does not mean anything goes."
Finishing her remarks in English, Merkel said the Freedom Bell in Berlin, just as Philadelphia's Liberty Bell, is a symbol that "reminds us that freedom does not come about of itself. It must be struggled for, and then defended anew, every day of our lives."
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P.S. Chancellor (Frau) Angela Merkel has some audacity to address a joint session of Congress in German when many U.S. citizens still carry tattoos on their arms reminders of the German atrocities of the recent past. This visit and this address were not planned with the sensitivities of Americans in mind. The Chancellor born in Communist East Germany, after 20 years of unification (freedom) feels she can demand from the U.S. anything that her European Union desires. How quickly do people forget things? "He (or she) Who Does Not Remember History Is Condemned To Repeat It"
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Germany instigated two world wars in the Twentieth Century... Who are they to talk?
How can Chancellor Merkel come to the same country that defeated hers just 64 years ago, demanding anything? Especially in a somber manner in Deutsch, even? This publicity stunt was ill advised mein Frau.
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F.Y.I. In Amerika we the people are not ruled by tyrants that deliver impressive speeches.
Your wishes too unify your continent are fine, just as long as you don't attempt to impose your dubious one world agenda upon us. Ever heard of the Monroe Doctrine? This is not the Sudatenland, or Poland or Hungary. So, keep your Panzers at home.
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Preoccupation about climate change is something that we can do without at this juncture; We have our hands full of drastic 'changes' as it is. If you want to enforce global binding obligations on your own, go right ahead; Just don't get too carried away! The greatest generation is not completely dead, yet.
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Arsenio.
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