In this publicly distributed handout image provided by NASA an artist's conception of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite that splashed into the ocean near Antarctica in February 2009 is shown.

NASA and Google are now teaming up to track global carbon emissions.

Beyond watching everything that goes on on earth, NASA is combining with Google to build a satellite tracking system to see  how much carbon countries emit to elimate “cheating”.  The world is aware that NASA is part of the U.S. government.  Here comes America again as the world’s self-appointed cops.   When did our Congress vote to fund this?  It seems premature since we don’t even have a global climate deal that is binding.  Some countries might not appreciate their carbon being monitored by the U.S. and Google.

Cutting carbon emissions is not going to be verifiable anyway because there can be no realistic “repercussions” for cheating with emissions that a lot of money changing hands won’t fix.  Cutting carbon emissions will have to be on the “honor system” and in that regard, it makes sense for every country to start cutting carbon drastically now, despite (or because of) the lack of anything definitive coming out of the COP15 summit.  The satellite system will also monitor deforestation.  We already know that’s happening, too, and where.  In fact, U.S. trade agreements are partially to blame for some deforestation in South America.

Google is also involved in the smart grid  with its PowerMeter and is already tracking peoples’ energy usage in parts of the U.S.   It doesn’t make me terribly comfortable knowing that Google is involved in everything from tracking all my websites to tracking where people are, to tracking energy usage in homes to tracking carbon emissions to tracking photos of every single place on earth . . . Google is becoming either Big Brother or Skynet.

COPENHAGEN – The question is a potential deal-killer: If nations ever agree to slash greenhouse gas emissions, how will the world know if they live up to their pledges?

The answer is in space, experts say — both outer space and cyberspace.

NASA, the wonder agency of the 1960s, and Google, the go-to company of the early 21st century, are trying to give the world the ability to monitor both the carbon dioxide pollution and the levels of forest destruction that contribute to global warming.

For NASA, this is both an opportunity and an embarrassment. NASA had a science satellite, Orbiting Carbon Observatory, that as a side benefit would be able to see where carbon dioxide was being spewed. But a February launch of the $280 million satellite failed, sending the satellite into the cold Antarctic waters.

If given some money, NASA could have a $330 million “carbon copy,” of the downed-and-drowned satellite up flying around Earth in less than three years, NASA Earth sciences chief Michael Freilich said.

“Just having the thing flying around there imaging would just about make [...]