Hello and welcome to the Americano podcast, a series of discussions about American power,

politics and society. On each episode, I will talk to an American expert or an expert on

America about something that's going on in America in

2023. I am delighted to be joined again back by popular demand by Robert Bryce, who is an energy

expert. And we're going to be talking about COP, the climate change summit, which is taking place at the moment

in Dubai, and asking if COP is really a bit of a busted flush, Robert, because Joe Biden did

not attend, because of what's going on in the Middle East. Interestingly, he couldn't go to the

Middle East because of what's going on in the Middle East.

And there is a sort of obvious absurdity in having this climate change summit in Dubai, which is an 85% petroleum exporting country.

And it seems to me that both climate change skeptics, if you want to call them

that, or people who are a bit more cynical about the whole green movement, and sort of the

Greta Thumburgs of this world, are united when it comes to COP because it does seem to be

a bit of a joke really.

Yeah, well, I read my friend Roger Pilke Jr. He's a professor at the University of Colorado.

He published a piece just the other day, which I thought was very on point. And I have not been to

cop myself, but I've followed them for many years now.

And the script seems to me to be all, and I'll come back to Roger in just a second,

the script to me seems always to be the same, that, oh, there's a lot of skepticism,

a lot of cynicism beforehand, and then everybody gets together, and oh, nothing happens,

nothing happens nothing happens and then somehow miraculously right the night before the thing is all supposed to adjourn there's a breakthrough

agreement and everyone stands up and agrees and it's and claps and oh this is going to be different

we've heard this over and over and over again right paris was supposed to be the breakthrough

...