The Copenhagen talks aren’t about climate science.  They aren’t about carefully crafting policy to deal with scientifically calculated problems.  For one thing, we know that the science has been cynically manipulated to the point that the very scientific process itself has been forever undermined.

No, Copenhagen is not about science.  It’s about two things: power and ideology.

The violent protests taking place outside the conference probably look familiar to you. They should.  We’ve seen all this before.  It’s the same bunch who have been protesting since the 60’s – radical leftwing agitators who hate capitalism.  They’ve found a new home in the confines of ecoreligion, where they can again comfortably lob emotional attacks on the capitalist order.  These are ideologically minded radicals; brainwashed, capitalist-hating and know-nothing college youths; and other social malcontents.  They don’t have the first clue as to what the science does or does not say, nor do they care.  All they know is that the West is evil and capitalism has got to go.

Been there, done that. We’ve heard it all before.

They are quite clear in what they want.  Marching under the banner of “Climate Justice Action,” some of these leftwingers want redistribution as “reparations” for “ecological debt.”  They are demanding up to $45 trillion.  This is attempted confiscation and political revolution, not science.

Dance, puppets!

Inside the conference, it’s all about power.  These people don’t give a damn about the environment, climate change, or whatever buzz words they’re throwing out to the world at large.  Oh, sure, they’ve invited plenty of people who have been duped into believing such things, but those actually making the decisions aren’t there to save the planet or any such feel-good nonsense.  They’re there because the world order is suddenly up for negotiation.  Power is being redistributed, and everyone wants to maximize their acquisitions.

Don’t believe me? Just look at the two sides. Where are the fault lines? The so-called developing nations want power redistributed to them, while the current powers seek desperately to defend the status quo.  The entire affair is best understood through the prism of realist foreign policy.  It’s power politics, plain and simple.

This might actually be good, as it reduces the chances of all sides settling on some economy destroying agreement that leaves none better off.  If they’re all indeed fighting to preserve or enhance their own power structures, we might just skate by without any freedom-reducing agreements to “save the planet” from imagined catastrophe.

Update: Confirmation that it’s not about science (via The Foundry):

Janos Pasztor—the Director of U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon’s Climate Change Support Team—was characterizing the nature of the talks between the rich and poor nations of the world when he said the following: “This is not a climate-change negotiation … It’s about something much more fundamental. It’s about economic strength.” The nations at the negotiation, he added, “just have to slug it out.”

Update II: Hugo Chavez gets wild applause for saying that capitalism is the “silent and terrible ghost in the room.”