Obama Headed to Copenhagen for Climate Talks

Copenhagen summit yields basic deal to fight climate change

(NEWSER) - President Obama and the leaders of China, India, and South Africa reached a "meaningful agreement" tonight in Copenhagen on steps to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the White House announced. The deal requires the nations of the world to list their actions to curb emissions and sets up a framework for rich countries to pay poor nations in order to cope with the effects of climate change. The agreement is meant to limit global warming to 2° Celsius. More»

The West's getting the blame, but Beijing's the real villain here

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama is getting the blame for the limp Copenhagen deal, but Mark Lynas knows it was China that really scuttled it—because he watched it happen. Sitting in on the closed-door meetings, the Guardian writer “saw Obama fighting desperately to salvage a deal, and the Chinese delegate saying ‘no,’ over and over again.” China sent a second-tier official to sit opposite the world’s most powerful leaders, forcing them to pause, frequently, while he called his superiors. More»

Negotiators appear ready to extend, build on Kyoto protocol

(NEWSER) - New draft proposals at the Copenhagen summit have renewed optimism that negotiators will find consensus on a substantial deal. One plan would renew and extend the Kyoto protocol—this time, presumably, with a US endorsement—which is set to expire in 2012. Another draft proposal, framed as a "Kyoto companion" calls for more action from developing countries, which get something of a pass in the Kyoto agreement. More»

Copenhagen deal creates 'league of super-polluters'

(NEWSER) - The Copenhagen climate deal President Obama struck with China, India and South Africa flies in the face of progressive values, environmental writer Bill McKibben rages. Here’s how:

• Obama made the UN obsolete: “The clear point is, you poor nations can spout off all you want on questions like human rights or the role of women or fighting polio or handling refugees. But when you get too close to the center of things that count—the fossil fuel that’s at the center of our economy—you can forget about it.”

President addresses Copenhagen summit, urges action

(NEWSER) - President Obama took direct aim this morning at China's resistance to climate change monitoring, saying any deal that emerged from Copenhagen "would be empty words on a page" without such measures. They “need not be intrusive, or infringe upon sovereignty,” said Obama. The issue's been a sticking point for China, whose premier snubbed Obama today by sending an underling to a meeting attended by the US president and other world leaders, reports the New York Times . More»