Adoption of climate treaty by 2009 in doubt

It has to start now or we DO face a more dire future!!

Me too, Jan.

Oh don't worry. He will hear from me.

Yes, we must educate Mr. Obama! He needs to clearly grasp the severity of our situation. You should send a copy of your major posts to him JanforGore! We can each bombard their administration with knowledge that seems to escape most government officials (?)

I'm grateful you and a few others here do understand the gravity of this situation. It makes it worthwhile posting here.

WORD Jan. Everybody has to wake the hell up. People are so concerned with their flat screens and their cars... What if there weren't anymore roads left to drive on? What if there's not a world left to watch TV in?

I don't think people really understand the gravity of the situation.

Lemmings.

From the article:

Despite new leadership in the United States promising to cap the country's greenhouse gas emissions, some environmental leaders say it is unlikely that an international climate treaty will pass in the next year.

During his campaign, U.S. president-elect Barack Obama supported a global cap-and-trade agreement for regulating his nation's carbon emissions. As a result, many international observers are hoping the United States will agree to binding emissions-reduction targets at thehigh-profile climate change negotiations scheduled for December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Such optimism may be unrealistic, however. The ongoing financial crisis, a potential withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and an increasingly unstable war in Afghanistan will likely dominate the White House's political agenda in 2009.

If the United States does not accept mandatory emissions-reduction targets at Copenhagen, a panel of environmental leaders and climate negotiators said last week that the climate conference will be much less meaningful.

"I doubt U.S. legislation will be ready by Copenhagen," said Elliot Diringer, vice president of international strategies at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and a deputy assistant to former President Bill Clinton. "The odds of accomplishing comprehensive negotiations at Copenhagen are not very high. In fact, they're very low."

snip

But Obama's intentions remain vague on many environmental fronts. Diplomats and environmentalists are urging the President-elect to attend next month's climate negotiations in Poznań, Poland, to clearly demonstrate his support for a new international agreement, even though he would only act as an observer. The conference is expected to result in a draft text of the treaty.

"We hope the administration of President-[elect] Obama will come to Poznań," said Janus Zaleski, the Polish deputy minister of environment, at last week's panel. "This will send a message to the world that the U.S. is intent in participating on an international stage."