12/13/18 12/13/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from the u.n. climate summit in katowice, poland, this is democracy now! >> opportunity in katowice, which compromise our last best chance to stop runaway climate change. it will not only be immoral, it would be suicidal. amy: u.n. secretary general antonio guterres issues a dire warning that nations must act

now to save humanity from devastating climate change as ththe united states and the world's other biggest polluters obstruct u.n. climate talks in katowice, poland. how will an action on global warming devastate developing nations? the most affected, but the least to cause the crisis. we will speak with meena raman and then look at the massive rolele the fossil fuel industry has played in year's climate talks. >> i have many things to tell shell. i don't think i can tell them all in one day. after stop -- they have to clean up their mess. amy: we'll speak with nigerian environmental activist nnimmo bassey. -free costa ri? their an is toecome the first cotry to b fossil

i the world. >>early 100% oour elecicity com from rewable sources. amy: a that anmore, cong up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from katowice, poland. president trump's personal attorney michael cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison for tax evasion, bank fraud, campaign-finance violations, and lying to congress. cohen was sentenced after admitting he broke federal campaign finance laws by paying hush money to two women during the 2016 presidential campaign. the payments to adult film star stormy daniels and former playboy model karen mcdougal were made to prevent them from speaking to the media during the presidential campaign about their alleged affairs with

trump. federal prosecutors have said cohen's crime was done "in coordination with and at the direction" of president trump. at his sentencing cohen said -- , "it was my own weakness and a blind loyalty to this man that led me to choose a path of darkness over light. i felt it was my duty to cover up his own dirty deeds." at a white house event on wednesday, president trump refused to answer questions about michael cohen. >> mr. president, did michael cohen cover up your dirty deeds? what dirty deeds is he talking about, mr. president? amy: in related news, the publisher of the tabloid newspaper "the national inquirer" has admitted it bought the rights to former playboy model karen mcdougal's story and

then suppressed it to "prevent it from influencing the election." "the national inquirer" is run by a longtime friend of donald trump's, david pecker, who is now cooperating with prosecutors. he admitted meeting with cohen and another unnamed member of trump's campaign in august 2015. election law experts say the admission could put trump and his organization in legal jeopardy. richard hasen, an election law professor at the university of california, irvine, told "the new york times" -- "it's looking a lot like an illegal and unreported in-kind corporate contribution to help the campaign, exposing the trump campaign and trump himself to possible criminal liability." in breaking news on yemen, a cease-fire has been reached for the strategic port citity of hodedeida. this comes on the final day ofof peace talklks in sweden between rerepresentatives ofof the houti rerebel movements and the saudi

backed goverernment. anantonio guterrrres has descrid the move as an important step. the u.s.-backed saudi war has devastated yemen. new w report says over half of yememen's 28 million people are now food insecure, with 5 million people in emergency hunger situationon, a and 65,00n a catastrophe hunger situation, the most severe phase. in news from capitol hill, california congress member nancy pelosi has secured enough votes to become the next house speaker after striking a number of deals to win over critics, including agreeing to a four-year term limit. pelosi held the position previously from 2003 to 2007. the guardian newspaper is reporting the fbi kept files on a number of climate activists connected to the group 350.org. the files date from 2016 when 350.org was helping to organize the break free f from fossil fus campaign. while names have beereredacted,, the documents make reference to three peaceful protesters from

ioiowa who were arrested in indiana while protesting at a bp refinery. the guardian also reports the documents make an apparent reference to bill mckibben, co-founder of 350.ororg. in response, mckibben said -- "trying to deal with the greatest crisis humans have stumbled into shouldn't require being subjected to government surveillance. but when much of our government acts as a subsidiary of the fossil fuel industry, it may be par for the course." here at the u.n. climate talks, 350.org executive director may boeve reacted to the news. >> we're here in poland for the climate talks were a number of activists have been stopped from coming, including many of our members. we learned today we are being spied on in the united states. it is notttempt -- working. amy: "the new york times" has revealed the u.s. oil industry aleche koch brothers and

have teamed up to wager covert campaign to weaken the nations car emission standards. a key player in the push to roll back the obama adminisistratio's fuel efficiency standards has been marathon petroleum, the country's largest refinery. meanwhile, the times reports the oil industry lobby also ran a covert campaign on facebook to urge people to support r rolling backck to feel effificiency standards. in august, the environmental protection agency announced it will freeze obama era fuel economy standards at 2020 levels in the latest blow by the trump administration against efforts to curb catastrophic climate change. in britain, prime minister theresa may has survived a no-confidence vote, ensuring she will stay in powerer as contntentious brexit negotiatits move forward. mission,e is our new delivering the brexit that people voted for, bringiging the

coununtry back togetheher, and buildingng a country that truly works for everyone. amy: earlier this week, may halted a parliamentary vote on a brexit deal after members of her conservative party said they would oppose it. she is scheduled to meet with european leaders in brussels today, though european union officials have said they will not reopen negotiations on brexit. china has detained two canadians in apparent retaliation for the recent arrest of a top chinese executive in vancouver. the men have been identified as michael kovrig, a former canadian diplomat who now works for the international crisis group, and michael spavor, who runs cultural exchanges with north korea. they are both accused of suspicion of endangering national security. meanwhile, a canadian court has granted bail to meng wanzhou, chief financial officer of the chinese tech giant huawei who faces possible extradition to the united states for

allegedly violating u.s. sanctions on iran. tension is rising between the united states and turkey after turkish president recep tayyip erdogan threatened to launch an offensive against u.s.-backed kurdish fighters in syria who have been battling isis. erdogan said he wants to clear kurdish fighters from east of the euphrates. the u.s. military said such anan action is unacceptable. a high-ranking vatican official has been convicted of sexually molesting two boys in australia. most recently, cardinal george pell was the vatican's chief financial officer. some considered him to the third -- some considered him the third most powerful official in the vatican. he previously served as archbishop of sydney and melbourne, australia. the shocking news however is not being reported in australia due to a court gag order. today's edition of the herald sun features a large black box with the word "censored" in

white capital letters. earlier this week, pope francis removed pell and chilean cardinal francisco javier errazuriz from his inner circle. errazuriz has been accused by survivors of covering up and discrediting their stories of abuse. it has been a deadly 24 hours in the west bank, two israelis died today when a palestinian gunman opened fire at a bus stop. this came just hours after israeli troops carried out a -- several deadly raids killing two members of hamas accused of being involved in past attacks. meanwhile, in gaza, hundreds of palestinians attended a funeral wednesday for a four-year-old boy who died after being hit by israeli shrapnel. ahmed abu abed was injured while attending the great march of return protest along with his father, yaser, who was shot during the demonstration. >> we were 300 meters away.

it were shooting and two were injured before i was. then an explosion happened in front of us. after that, i got injured. then my son did. the people removed him from the area, and then removed me. amy: more than 195 palestinians have been killed by israeli forces since the great march of return rallies began on march 30. temple university has said they will not take action against media studies professor marc lamont hill, who was recently fired from cnn after he gave a speech in support of palestinian rights at the united nations. in his speech, lamont hill used the phrase "free palestine from the river to the sea," which conservatives and pro-israel groups say is used by hamas and other anti-israeli government groups. temple university said that lamont hill's speech was protected by the first amendment.

new data from the centers for disease control shows the rate of gun deaths in the united states has reached a 20-year-high. according to the cdc, almost 40,000 people were killed in shootings in 2017. that's an average of over 100 shooting deaths a day. 60% of the shooting deaths were suicides. in new york, brooklyn's district attorney has dropped charges against 23-year-old jazmine headley, who was arrested last week and had her 18-month-old son ripped from her arms, as she waited at a brooklyn benefits office for a child care voucher. video of the incident shows headley clutching her son to her chest and screaming as she's pinned to the floor by nypd officers who are wrenching the child out of her arms. >> you are hurting my son! you are hurting my son! you are hurting my son!

amy: when bystanders protested headley's treatment, one officer waved a taser at them. headley says when she got to the human resources administration office to apply for a child care benefit, there were no chairs available, so she and her son sat on the floor, where they waited for over four hours. when a pair of security officers demanded she stand, headley refused and the guards called in the police. headley was arrested on friday on several charges, including resisting arrest and child endangerment. the charges were dropped tuesday after headley spent the weekend in jail, separated from her son. staffers at the recently unionized digitital nes outlet slate, have voted to go on strike. the actionon is in response to slate's inclusion of a riright-to-work clause in ongoig contract negotiations. the policy would weaken the union by making membership fees optional. in new york, employees at a new

amazon fulfillment center in staten island have announced plans to unionize. employees cited as some of their concerns safety, low pay, high performance quotas, and long shifts with few breaks. last month, amazon announced its new expanded headquarters would be located in arlington, virginia, and queens, new yoyork city, sparking local protests and opposition from a number of community organizations and some local leaders. and dr. christine blasey ford has made her first public appearance since her senate testimony in september when she accused then-supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault. dr. blasey ford recorded a video message presenting the sports illustrated inspiration of the year award to rachael denhollander, who was the first woman to publicly accuse former usa gymnastics doctor larry nassar of sexual abuse. nassar was accused of molesting 265 girls and women over decades

and has received what amounts to multiple life sentences. this is part of dr. christine blasey ford's memessage. denhollander, i am inin awe of you. you took a huge risk in stepping forward and you galvanized future generations to come forward, even when the odds are seeminglgly stacked against the. ththe lasting lessonn is that we all have the power to create real change. and we cannot allow ourselves to be defined by the acts of others . amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the u.n. climate summit in katowice, poland, where u.n. secretary general antonio guterres issued a dire warning wednesday that nations must act now to save humanity from devastating climate change.

>> to waste this opportunity in katowice would compromise our last best chance to stop runaway climate change. it would not only be in moral, it would be suicidal. wouldldhere in katowice send a disastrous messssage to ththose who stand ready to shift to a green economy. so i asksk you to find common groundnd and to allow us to show the world that we are listening and that we care. dedeveloped countries must scale of their contributions. amy: despite this call to action, talks here in katowice have been hindered by the united states and the world's other biggest polluters, who are promoting fossil fuels and focusing on reducing emissions inin developing countries,s, but their own. talks are e supposed to conclude on friday, but negotiations -- negotiators have expressed

little hope in meeting that deadline. meanwhile, climate experts warn that inaction on global warming will devastate developing nations that have done the least to cause it. well, for more, we are now joined by meena raman, coordinator of the climate change program at third world network. she is honorary secretary of friends of earth malaysia. welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. can you talk about the progress in the talks come in these summits come and who you feel is getting in the way of where you want these talks to be? >> i think we are acting far too slowly. those of us who were in paris wanted movement much faster. we are here negotiating theelines to implement paris agreement. and what we see, unfortunately, is the united states, who has announced it has no intention to be a party to the paris agreement, negotiating the rules for implementation.

so it is really hypocritical that the united states is here negotiating in what i would characterize as bad faith. and the reason why i say this is that the deal was already done. the political deal was done in 2015. here the governments are supposed to help each other implement the agreement that was achieved. now, what do you see the united states do is renegotiate the paris agreement. it is seeking to dilute further treatys a very delicate that was concluded. amy: can you expand what the u.s. is doing here? trump said the u.s. is pulling out -- he is pulling the u.s. out of the agreement, although it takes a few years to do that. behind they clearly are the scenes here in force, beginning with this -- and this was done behind the scenes -- working with saudi arabia.

they are a close ally, despite what it has done in yemen, despite the dismemberment of a "washington post" columnist jamal khashoggi, working hand-in-hand with saudi arabia to undercut the u.n.'s nobel peace prize winning scientific body, the ipcc, and the new report on the devastating effects of climate change. >> the u.s. has clearly said that it doesn't agree with the scientific findings. and yet it is here. it has already announced it is going to pull out, yet it is negotiating. the conclusion for us is, what is the u.s. up to? what it is trying to do is deny those countries who are asking for climate finance. under the paris agreement, it was already agreed climate finance would be paid. they're saying, we are not willing to commit to any new

discussion of finance if the donor base is now widen. this is renegotiating. i think what they mean is if china does not come on board, the u.s. is not willing to put any money on the table. but it is not even clear whether the u.s. will do anything at all because it is a climate denier. so what we worry is for those nations who have already put their climate actions on the table as to what they would do when the paris kicks off in 2020 -- they have clearly indicated we can do more, but we will need technology, we would need finance. these are not negotiable as far as the u.s. is concerned. so there is no money on the table, no indication of any discussion for new money. there is no commitment to discuss real technology transfer. amy: what do mean by technology transfer? >> this is a global problem. developing countries would need to transition from the

dependence of fossil fuels to low carbon future. in order to do that, they will have to shift dramatically and not repeat the mistakes of the developed world. in order to do that, we need all of the technology that are environmentally sound that are able to allow the developing fossiles to move from fuel dependence to non-fossil fuel dependence. amy: can you talk about was survival emissions are? >> for the poor in the world who have no contribution to emissions -- for instance the large amount of people in india are denied any access to energy. now they are being told that they have to reduce their carbon emissions. these are people who emit nothing. they have to survive. they have to eat. go to school. they have to have health care. it all of this is not possible because they don't have access to energy. whore saying these people

have very little contribution to any emissions, they are being toed to contribute -- reducing emissions. it is hypocritical. the united states does not want to acknowledge that it is the largest historical emitter in the world. you don't have enough carbon space to allow countries like the united states to continue to emit. you need the survivor -- emissions for those were able to transition and develop. this is what the big fight is about. amy: what is the comparison of citizen expends, using emissions versus people in india, for example, or the developing world? >> all of the cars -- amy: how much bigger is the carbon footprint? >> i don't have the latest numbers, but i know for a fact u.s. per capita emission something like 24 times or so

and countries like india who are less than one. so you see the scale is massively different. the poor -- this is like -- don't amy: you're not talking about the whole population of india, but support. >> those in india who have very little to live on. you see if you want to limit temperature rise, there is finite carbon space that is left. for countries like the united states who have grown wealthy due to their emissions, without any constraint on their carbon, they have become wealthy. and for the poor, who remained poor, and for them you say, no, you cannot emit and you cannot have any alternative -- you are condemning these people to poverty, condemning them even to death, actually. this is why what we say the climimate problem has to be addressed in a different manner,

those with greater historical responsibility must pay. amy: what role is china playing? it is the largest polluter now, is that right? as opposed to the u.s. been the largest historically. >> but if you take per capita emissions, china is much lesser than the united states. this is why you do need to acknowledge that you could not treat all people in the same way because this is where the, but -- you remember when george bush in 1992 he said that the lifestyles of the americans are not up for negotiations. amy: george h.w. bush. there have to remember, is finite resources. the rich cannot continue to take and take. if you remember what gandhi said, if it were not for the american lifestyle, we would need another six climates. so the poor has to be able to

survive. they have to be enabled to move toward transition in a way that doesn't replicate the lifestyle of the americans. set ofena raman, you a approaches such as carbon markets are rooted in colonialism and environmental racism. what do you mean by that? asthe carbon markets, as far we're concerned, mechanisms to actually not do the real domestic reductions that are needed. amy: what are carbon market? >> markets which trade in carbon, where they believe -- for instance, in malaysia, we are a massive forest country. so there are companies that go around our part of the world and say the more you protect the forest, those credits that allow the saving of the carbon dioxide, we will quantify them and then we will trade them in the international market so that you will get money for them. in the offsets, the reductions

that we do, will count to the domestic reductions s of the developed countries. what they are really telling us is, we will pay you cheaply to do the emissions reductions for us and the developed world doesn't have to do the domestic reductions that they have to do. so this is not the solution. the solution is everyone has to be carbonized. amy: finally, what needs to come out of these talks? >> we need rules that are fair and just. the paris agreement cannot just be about reporting. the united states just want everyone to report better in terms of what action they are doing. but what we actually need to do is seek finance at the table. oneal commitment to deliver finance. for instance, the green climate fund is in need of massive refinishment. the united states alleged $3 billion initially and only $1 billion is there.

countries, looking at the green climate fund to deliver on the kind of actions that they need to do. so if the green climate fund this undertaking the transformation in developing countries, then massive refinishment has to happen now, has to happen today. the other thing that has to happen is basically, the technology that needs to be transferred. the uss technology is in the private hands of the sector so it is a commercial venture. this is not about a commercial venture. this is a global problem. we need affordable, accessible technology so developing countries do not have to go in the same pathway as the developing world. this and itholding is a climate denier and preventing those who want to do action from taking action. amy: meena raman, thank you for being with us, the coordinator of the climate change program at

third world network. she is the honorary secretary of friends of the earth malaysia. this is democracy now! when we come back, we will be joined by nnimmo bassey, leading of our mental activist from nigeria. stay with us. -- environmental activist from nigeria. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the u.n. climate summit here in katowice, poland. we now turn to take a closer look at the major role fossil fuel companies are playing in negotiations just a day before the climate talks are expected to end. officials from nearly 200 countries are here to negotiate how to implement the 2015 paris agreement. but so are representatives from many of the world's largest fossil fuel companies, including a lobby group which represents bp, shell, and exxonmobil, who are here to push their own agenda behind the scenenes. just last week, the intercept reported that an executive from shell oil told participants at a cop side event that shell helped draft a portion of the 2015 paris climate agreement dealing

with emissions mitigation. he made the remarks at an event for corporate actors, including the fossil fuel industry, saying saying -- "the european union's position is not that different from how shellll sees this." this week, activists protested outside an event hosted d by shell. among those demonstrating were rita uwaka and nnimmo bassey. >> where i come from, just 60 , humanf oil pollution rights abuses. today, the world has 12 short years to do the right thing about climate change. companies and their cohorts must be held to account. today, what do we say? >> it is like hell on earth. i represent community's who are

impacted by these big polluters. having these big polluters coming is done only a slap on us as delegates of cop, it is also a slap on mother earth. >> that is really what we are here because of the open insult from the show official telling that -- she'll telling us [indiscernible] it means nothing is going to happen from this cop. the so-called national -- rvention in nothing but i have many things to tell shell.l. i don't think i can tell them all in one day. number one, that the stop polluting. number two, clelean up their me. number thrhree, get out of the cop. any code that is nnimmo bassey,

who joins us now from the u.n. climate here in katowice, poland. is a nigerian environmental activist and the director of the health of mother earth foundation. he is the author of several books, including "oil politics: echoes of ecological wars" and "to cook a continent: destructive extraction and climate crisis in africa." welcome back to democracy now! it is great to have you here every year here at the cop, wherever it is. cop stands for conference of parties to the climate talks. this year it is cop24 for the 24th year. o, we just heard your protests. can you talk about the role of corporations in these climate talks? >> thank you for having me on the program. it is very troubling to see a conference that is dealing with

the planet can just be fossil fuelby industry. it almost seems like the conference of parties -- amy: the conference of polluters? >> this is what we are not making much progress. you look at the paris agreement. this was so much celebrated around the world. countries quickly endorsed it, turnedwhen that quickly away from it. amy: you are talking about president trump. was so populars with politicians because the result was such a manipulated outcome that everyone could see they were really not going to do anything that science requires. part of the agreement was based on what nations choose to do.

and this is just the design and desire of the fossil fuel industry. they fought hard in the background the lobby holes to we all know this is why we have global warming. the burning of fossil fuel. pumping carbon into the atmosphere. you have a conference, convention, whose job is to set the world on a path that would save us from catastrophic global warming? that should be a force to be dealt with. it we're not seeing that at all. amy: talk about what is happening in nigeria, africa's most populous country in the most oil-producing african country. >> it is a nightmare. 1956 -- oil has been in

income for 60 years. 1970's, help to twist the political situation in the country and made politicians more or less grew to be in charge of the oil revenue. right now oil has damaged our politics and our economy and damaged our environment. ongoingeak, there is an oil spill. crude oil.d oft think about this kind destructive resource that is pumping carbon into the atmosphere. people live next to oil fields that don't have access to energy. enjoy a dark night sky. they cannot enjoy a quiet night. a quiet moment. -- thee burning can

plans are burning and to mislead. we are losing land to sea level rise. we're losing the major -- where you have violent conflicts. it is such a destructive thing. 25,000 square kilometers in the 1960's, now down to about 25 -- i mean, 2500 square kilometers. we lost 90% of its size. this is catastrophic. amy: i want to go back to the power of the corporation, speaking last week at an international emissions trading association side event here at the cop, was shell's chief climate change adviser david hone, said that the oil company had a hand in writing the paris agreement. hone stated -- "we have had a process running for four years for the need of carbon in trading to be part of the paris agreement. we can take some credit for the

fact that article 6 is even there at all. we put together a straw proposal. many of the elements of that straw proposal appear in the paris agreement. we put together another straw proposal for the rulebook, and we saw some of that appear in the text." it sounds like the paris agreement exceeded his wildest expectations. they have every reason to celebrate because if you listen to politicians, and listen to the industry, they keep saying they know the intergovernmental panel on global warming, has 12 years to do something about emissions reduction but the oil companies keep selling that the world cannot generate energy except on fossil fuels. in the foreseeable future. even the negotiations buy this crap, this falsehood, this life.

the industry is locking and everyone on this fossil pathway. and they are trading carbon. if you keep on polluting, keep on business as usual, industries therelease as much in air, and there's always offset. -- poorset is put in community's. it is offset by trees in poor communities. this is a fiction. amy: can you talk about the significance of this cop24 being held here in poland? it is the only country, i believe, where the u.n. climate summit has taken place three times. this is coal land, poland.

this is the coal heart of poland. how does it affect poland. how does it affect these talks with the coal companies virtually cosponsoring, partnering with these talks -- we're in a convention center that is on an old coal mine site. there is a coal museum next door. it is designed to make this look like a coal mine. >> we in the belly of the mine, literally. chose toh government host this conference right in a coal pit, so to speak. running yesterday up the stairs. step -- aally able to bold step. this is where we are going to go.

-- challenge for them is where we're going, i don't think there is a solution anywhere near. the industry is pushing in the background the oil and gas companies pushing along with them, but when something is wrong, it is wrong. amy: what gives you hope, , nnio bassey? >> my hope is in the people. because where are the politicians are having a difficulty coming to agreement, people in the streets, people in thingy all agree this must be taken head-on. in 2010 -- this is 70 years. to respecthope that

the rights of mother earth, the rights of nature. the planet is resilient, but we just can't take it for granted. amy: nnimmo bassey is a nigerian environmental activist and the director of the health of mother earth foundation. he is the author of several books, including "oil politics: echoes of ecological wars" and "to cook a continent: destructive extraction and climate crisis in africa." when we come back, fossil-free costa rica? we will speak with activist monica araya about the plan to become the first decolonize the economy in the world. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: william onyeabor, "heaven and hell." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the u.n. climate summit in katowice, poland. we end today's show looking at a country taking a huge stand against t climate change despite ththe inaction o of world leada- costa a rica. costa rica h has a plan toto ban -- to go fossisil-free begininng ne y year, bomining th first decarbononed country in the worlrld. costa ricaca already genenerates more than 90% of its electricity usining renewable e energy. inin 2017, it wewent 300 days on clean energy alolone. coststa rica is hehere at the u. climate e lks in katowice,nd coa rican ficials ve nounced ey want toost u.n. climatate talks in 2 2019, since brazilil rescinded i its offeroo host the annual summit flolowing the election of right-wi former a army captain jair bolsononaro. also a climate c cnge denierr like presisident trump.

announcing the plan, costa rica's minister of environment and energy, carlos manuel rodriguez, said -- "the benefits of hosting this event are many for the country, such as the possibility of positioning our decarbonization plan and our route towards this goal. we could also push more ambitious projects in the area of climate change and decarbonization of the world economies." well, for more, we're joined by monica araya, a costa rican climate activist who works with the president of costa rica on sustainability issues. she is the director of costa rica limpia, an ngo that promotes carbon neutrality and clean energy. araya's recent piece for project syndicate is headlined "the latest climate science must mobilize us, not paralyze us". monica, welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. fossil free costa rica? explain what it means to go 300 days doing, what? >> it is already happening

ofause what we say to all costa ricans is while the world is debating how to become more renewable, 30% by 2030, we are already there. so the first point is for us, this is something that is happening when we try our hair, when we make coffee. that electricity is already fossil-free. one thing we keep emphasizing international debate is decarbonization as such is not a new idea for us because it is already there. the other thing is -- amy: but how did you do 300 days of, what, what does this exactly means? >> when you turn on the lights, that electricity becomes either or ourter, wind, volcanoes, increasingly, solar. so one of the things we noticed is it was normal for us to be renewable. itit was in the e context of the

climate discussioions that we realizeded we were quiuite spea. thereris one poioint. the otheher point is in places lilike brazil or indonesesia, te prproblem with dedecarbonizatios about dederestation. we reversed deforestation in the 1990's, which means the other big headachche t tt the world h, we alrlrdy s sved. the next headache is the one we are tryining to s solve now. i can tell you more. ththe nextrontntier r us is for a citizen inin my country to o e up in the morning, turn on the light, no it is renewable, but then realized that the car or the bus thihis person will takes also using electricity instead of oil. so at the end of the day, these fossil-free for us means breaking free from fossil fuel. and if that sounds a bit

idealistic, i want to tell you what happened a few days ago. the president of our country, who is 38, the youngest present -- president in our continent, got into the car with a ceo, a woman, the woman who runs the electricity company, driving a car with the president and the wife, and they are singing and they are celebrating the fact that the car is going from a to b without using any fossil fuel. my point is in terms of hearts and minds, what is going on right now is that we are something that is not about the climate, necessarily, because at the end of the day, our emissions are not the problem. nextt is more about the big idea for a small country that is going to turn to hundred years old. we are mixing the narrative of

fossil-free with the story of a country that by the time it turns 200 years old, wants to soome a lab for the world that other countries can learn from us. amy: you want to host next op25.s cop, c the far right candidate in brazil has just won the presidency and one of his first acts is -- they disinvited the cop from brazil. we heard that it might be in new york next year. is that true? >> what will happen in new york next year's score to be a very busy city for climate negotiations, or at least climate discussions, is that there will be a big summit that the secretary-general is going to kind of -- change,ng climate

working against women. new york will be an important moment around september, and then the idea is to end in december with enough cop , orrary to this one here you just cannot get very far when you know there is so much coal when you get out and you are breathing -- your breathing is affected when you realize that the president is defending coal. this process is to be energized can shakery -- they things up. amy: have windmills been outlawed here in poland? >> i don't know enough about poland, so i should not comment on that. but i do know the president did defend fossil fuels, which to us is almost like going to a podium and saying you are against the female vote. it is the equivalent of that. amy: speaking of women, what

role -- the importance of women when it comes toto a decarbonine economy, sususinable way of livi? costa ra, one othe is the costaials rican diplomat who was executive desk secretary of the u.n. .ramework on climate change talk about the significance of this, but women overall. looks clearly, when you have soebody like christina being prominent, that is already very inspiring, and that has been obviously very visible for the new generation, but i can also give you examples of things that are happening right now. we are the first country in latin america to have a law that .ncentivizes zero emissions buses, trains, cars. we work with in

congress is a woman who has to push for an idea that at the time two years ago was a little too far out, and we worked together. when you getu that into transportation conversations, when you have to deal with car dealerships and with the car ecosystem, having a congresswoman and an activist promoting this idea that we have to go fossil-free in the transportation sector was unusual. the car industry is pretty male-dominated. amy: you think electric cars and convention goers may cause the same by 2022? >> by 2025. but the law that we passed is doing that for now. for five years before this happens, we're giving incentives it before this

happens. the price parity will happen because as you scale up technology, the batteries will come down. amy:y: costa rica a is exceptiol in many y ways. amonong them, t t country ababishedhe archaic >> if f you were a child in n my story,, , at is ththe write? i do think storytelling is very important. you grew up lisisning to the story of a c cntry thahat did nt have the armrmy. and thatat is why now that we're going to become 200 years old, that abolition that framed our national story is very important which isext abolition, the abolition of fossil fuels. the president said that in may .hen he was inaugurated the other thing is that we already have a moratorium on oil drilling.

and because of this leadership -- actually, there's another woman in congress, very young loss, she is proposing two to complement the decarbonization plan that we have drafted. by the way, the decarbonization plan is going to be out february 24 if you want to hear about it. it is linked to the idea that you mention of the abolition of the army. amy: before we go, because we're going to end with you talked about young people, a 15-year-old girl that gave a speech at the plenary last night . wantedwe go to greta, i ask about costa rica's new vice president, first woman of african descent to be elected vice president, not just in costa rica, but anywhere in north or south america. >> very proud of that. in thisuper important story because at the end of the

goinge cannot talk about fossil-free in the abstract. this is not just about emissions, it is about a much better society. this is an example of a more diverse society. amy: the conversation continues. maybe next year cop25 in costa rica. i want to thank you very much, monica araya, costa rican, activist. we are going to end with the words of 15-year-old swedish climate activist greta who addressed the u.n.n. plenary session last night. >> my name is greta. i am 15 years old. i am from sweden. i speak on behalf of climate justice now. many people say that sweden is just a small country and it doesn't matterer what we do. but i have learned you are never too small to make a difference. and ifif a few children can get headlines all overer the world

just by not going to school, then imagine what we could all do together if we really wanted to? but to do that, we have to speak cleaearly, no matter how uncomforortable that may be. you only speak of green eternal in economic growth because you are too scared of being a popular. ---- being a popular. movingy talk about forward with the samame bad ides that got us into this mess. deal the sensible thing to do is pull the emergency brake. to are not t mature enough tell it like it is.s. even that burden you leave to us children. but i don't care about being popular. i care about climate justice and the living planets. our civilization is being

sacrificed for t the opportunity of a very small number of people toto continue making enormous amounts of money. our biosphere is being sacrifificed so that rich people in countries like mine can live in luxury. it is the sufferings of the many which a for the luxuries of the few. 2078, i will celebrate my 75th birth they. if i have children, maybe they will spend the day with a. maybe they will ask me about you . maybe they will ask why you did not do anything while there was still time to act. you say y you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in froront of their very eyes. until usesed are focusing on wht needs to be done rather than

what is politically possible, there is no hope. we cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. we need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground, and we need to focus on equity. and the solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself. we have not come here to beg world leaders to care. the pastignored us in and you will ignore his again. you have run out of excuses and we have run out of -- we are running out of time. we have come here to let yoyou know thahat change is coming, whether you like it or not. the real power belongs to the people. thank you. [applause] amy: you have just been listening to 15-year-old s swedh climate activist greta thunberg

addressing me u.n. plenary last. she has called for a global school strike on friday. that does it for our show. a special thank you to democracy now!

behold his mighty hand. hello? this is cecil b. de-mille in hollywood, california. the trouble with movies as a business is it's an art. and the trouble with movies as an art is it's a business. and it is. every one of us who makes films struggles with that. the system demands success. it rewards it, but punishes failure as well. annenberg media ♪ and: