John Rossomando
The Daily Caller
12/15/2010
The revelation that the Obama administration used a covert CIA program to dig up dirt on countries opposed to the Copenhagen climate treaty shows a White House desperate to enforce its orthodoxy on global warming, Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe told The Daily Caller.
Earlier this month, The Guardian newspaper reported that State Department administration officials, acting at the request of the CIA, sent a secret cable on July 31, 2009, asking U.S. diplomats to gather intelligence on other countries’ preparations for the then-pending Copenhagen climate conference. The request also asked diplomats to be on the lookout for indications that countries were not fostering environmental cooperation and for evidence of countries circumventing U.N.-sponsored environmental treaties.
The cables do not make clear whether CIA Director Leon Panetta was directly involved in the request. Panetta has a long, documented history of environmental activism, particularly on climate change, going back several decades.
So far, administration allies are not commenting on the revelation. TheDC approached former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright last week during an appearance at the liberal Center for American Progress, but she declined to comment.
The leaked cables show the Obama administration has had particular trouble influencing the so-called BASIC-bloc countries of Brazil, South Africa, India, and China. Administration officials have sought to work with the EU to plot strategy to overcome opposition and find ways to neutralize their opposition to the Copenhagen Climate Accord.
This article continues at The Daily Caller.
