Post Gives Up on Achieving Climate Treaty at Copenhagen Summit

The Washington Post, in an editorial, accepted the likelihood that the upcoming climate summit in Denmark would not result in a new international agreement on the steps needed to tackle the climate. The Post said many blamed the Senate, but eventually an agreement may be reached.

"Blaming the Senate, or the United States, is unfair--and potentially self-defeating. Other governments are far from consonant on a range of issues, such as how to structure a regime for verifying countries' adherence to promised carbon reductions. And anti-American finger-pointing will only make it harder to extract the climate-change legislation from the Senate. Even so, U.S. negotiators probably have to decide between two courses, neither of which will fully satisfy many of their counterparts."

The Post said there appeared to be two U.S. options: To "offer no firm emissions target at the conference," which could "allow for a modest political declaration by the 192 participating countries announcing agreement on certain details of a new climate treaty, while pushing off formal negotiations for perhaps another six month;" or the U.S. could suggest "a provisional target, based on whatever Congress might consider passing."