You’ve heard us say the UN’s decision to have a climate conference in Poland was a big mistake. Poland is not only a nation highly skeptical of climate alarmism, but also one that is supportive and heavily reliant on coal and fossil fuels. Poland was probably not going to offer them the reception they were looking for.

Now it appears some Greens are coming to a similar conclusion.

At a press briefing this week, Tobiasz Adamczewski, a spokesman for the World Wildlife Fund, reported that the group “received information from the Chancellor of the Prime Minister today that by 2060 Poland will be based 100% on coal.”

He went on to glumly note, “We received in their report that coal is the cheapest energy source therefore it is the ultimate energy source.”

One could almost feel the air go out of the room. Poland, as the host of the conference, was supposed to jump on board the global warming bandwagon. But it doesn’t appear Poles necessarily feel the same way.

By virtue of an EU mandate to increase their share of renewables to 15.5% by 2020, the country has bumped up its use of “Green energy” from 5% in 2005 to around 10.4% today. But since 45% of this comes from chopping down trees to burn biomass, neither the WWF or UN is particularly impressed by this achievement.

By 2030 the EU mandate will sunset, and while many Green Europeans might like to see it extended, the Poles are almost surely not among them. This means, according to WWF, that the mandate will not create 800,000 Green jobs in Poland as promised, it will not be subsidized, and will slowly die altogether leaving coal to rule the energy roost.

To make matters worse, even in the short run Poland still does not have a renewable energy standard put into law – and the one it is currently working on, says WWF, continues to treat coal as a good source of energy.

They just don’t seem to get it.

Poland isn’t willing to distance itself from this valuable energy source no matter how much it comes under attack. The nation even allowed companies that burn fossil fuels to sponsor their climate conference, a blasphemy that also seemed to get under the skin of the WWF spokesman.

CFACT, of course, salutes the Poles and finds them to be a role model for the rest of the world. If only all countries had the backbone to stand up to the Greens and face down the alarmists in such a resolute manner. Having attended numerous climate conferences over the past 15 years, we cannot remember a time when a host country didn’t placate the climate lobby and stood up to them like Poland is doing at COP 19.  Let’s hope Poland remains steadfast in their principles and good sense.

No to UN climate hype!

“No to UN climate hype!”