He took a long, long time in making a decision, but at long last President Barack Obama has agreed to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen that will begin on December 7.
The White House announced today that “President Obama will travel to Copenhagen on Dec. 9 to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference, where he is eager to work with the international community to drive progress toward a comprehensive and operational Copenhagen accord. The President has worked steadily on behalf of a positive outcome in Copenhagen throughout the year. Based on the President’s work on climate change over the past 10 months – in the Major Economies Forum, the G20, bilateral discussions and multilateral consultations – and based on progress made in recent, constructive discussions with China and India’s Leaders, the President believes it is possible to reach a meaningful agreement in Copenhagen.”
Furthermore, the Obama Administration declared its intention to bring to Copenhagen a proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent of 2005 levels by the year 2020. Whether that will be enough to solve the problem is debatable, but at least it’s a start, and it’s certainly a good thing to have a President who has been convinced at least to sit at the table and listen to what leaders from other nations have to say about international cooperation to confront the root causes of climate change.
