Obama sends mixed message with separate trips to Oslo, Copenhagen

President Barack Obama originally planned to go the green way, combining two European business trips into one. First, he picks up his Nobel prize in Oslo, Norway, and then he planned to head straight to Denmark for the much-anticipated global warming summit in Copenhagen.

Of course the president of the United States has more to think about than just his carbon footprint, but you might think carbon would at least be part of the conversation when taking a trip to an international conference specifically covering ways to reduce carbon emissions.

A simple carbon footprint calculation shows a round trip flight from Washington, D.C., to Oslo is about 7,750 each way. The trip would emit a little more than 3,000 pounds of carbon. A roundtrip flight to Copenhagen is a couple hundred miles longer with about 125 more pounds of carbon. In contrast, the combined trip would have cost around 4,850 pounds of carbon.

Of course these stats are for an individual flying economy class. The number would soar much higher for an Air Force One flight, which is essentially designed around one man.

Give Obama a little credit, though. It seems he realizes how his flight schedule may look, so he may tack on a trip to Russia or the Middle East to help justify such high mileage.

Although Obama was in Oslo – not Copenhagen – Thursday night, he did make mention of global warming. He said: “There is little scientific dispute that if we do nothing, we will face more drought, more famine, more mass displacement - all of which will fuel more conflict for decades.”

And while Obama and his team review the reactions created by his Nobel Peace Prize speech, world leaders are already several days into Copenhagen talks, which are the world’s attempt to revamp the Kyoto Protocols.

Let’s hope they learn to walk the low-carbon walk even as they think about how a new carbon treaty may change the world forever.