Q On climate change, why is it a good idea for the President to arrive near the beginning of the climate talk negotiations as opposed to end, when the ultimate deal is going to be struck? And secondarily, does the White House have any evaluation or comment on this controversy of the hacked e-mails that suggest that some of the underlying science through some of the propositions put forward by climatologists may be in error or may have been altered in some way?
MR. GIBBS: On the second part, I think Carol Browner addressed that last week, on the order of several thousand scientists have come to the conclusion that climate change is happening. I don’t think that’s anything that is, quite frankly, among — most people — in dispute anymore.
In terms of when the President goes, obviously we believe that progress has been made with developing nations — the U.S. has made some progress with the Chinese and the Indians over the past couple of weeks. The President will travel to Oslo on the 10th, and believed it was important to use this visit to help get us to the point of a deal — something that can take the type of action that scientists say need to be taken to stop and reverse climate change. I think the President believes that a visit happening at the beginning is just as important as it would be at any point to getting that deal going quicker.
