Obama Changes the Climate

The failure of the Copenhagen Conference on climate change is no longer certain. Barack Obama’s decision to attend was the raising of the curtain, a call of ‘game-on.’ Of course, it is necessary to see American commitment for what it is: minimal. The American president, one must recall, had planned for a long time to go to Oslo to receive his Nobel Peace Prize, blowing off the 190 countries uniting on the same date in Copenhagen. He changed his mind, and that’s what counts.

Further good news is that Barack Obama will not be going to Denmark empty-handed. He has committed himself, for the first time, to a pointed effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. His is a modest objective – a reduction of 17 percent before 2020 with respect to 2005 levels – in light of the European effort. Again, remember what counts: The change of attitude in the American administration.

And then? We know all too well the most probable scenario. It’s been seen countless times since Kyoto. National egos, well represented in American Congress among others, always have more of a chance to impress themselves than the general interest of humanity.

Two factors change the deal. First, the convictions of many heads of state and governments that make efforts in favor of the climate are not a barrier to growth; to the contrary, they introduce technological developments. To that, western leaders generally add: Don’t leave green technologies to the Chinese.

Now for the bad news. Global warming is quickening and sketching dramatic pictures of the future. The world is starting to take this into account. The conscience of the United States is waking up to the threat. It’s about time.