Mine is bigger than yours

Befitting our status as a top carbon emitter, Australia's Copenhagen delegation will be huge, possibly numbering 114. But never fear, the government has a cunning plan to reduce the group's Sasquatch-sized carbon footprint:

The government is actively encouraging members of the Australian delegation to use public transport between their hotels and the Bella Centre.

What a good idea; using public transport will also keep costs down, which is great since the cheapest Qantas business class ticket Canberra - Copenhagen and return looks to be AU$11,890 -- $1.36 million for a 114 man delegation. Money well spent, I say.

But there is this little bit of negativity from the conference:

Tim Wilson from the Institute of Public Affairs, who discovered the list [of delegates], told The Australian from Copenhagen yesterday: "I keep spotting commonwealth bureaucrats here. It seems to reflect the enormous bureaucracy that will grow to support any agreement from Copenhagen."

Oh come on, there is no such thing as "too many bureaucrats". And think about the jobs that'll be created when a global treaty is eventually agreed: first up, chainsaw manufacturers will have to ramp up production for tree-felling - that paperwork mountain has to come from somewhere. What the Hell, Tasmania has too many trees anyway.

You know, this whole Copenhagen conference thing is all upside.

Update: AAP reports the number of delegates as 95. No doubt much paperwork will be completed during the 3,800 plus man-hours they'll be in the air.