Complex and difficult climate change negotiations are ongoing in Copenhagen among the world's leaders and President Obama is hoping to be the catalyst for broad agreement.
President Obama is going to make a quick trip to Copenhagen on Friday to meet with other world leaders and discuss the realities of broad-reaching agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address global climate change. The problem that many analysts see for Obama at this point is that his credibility in Copenhagen is already going to be called into question. While the U.S. and other world powers are seeking assurances from developing nations, as well as China and India, that greenhouse gas emission reduction is going to be a real priority, many European countries already claim that the U.S. falls short of doing its part in the fight against global warming.
So no matter what Obama proposes or says, he's going to be met with resistance. If he leans toward increasing U.S. commitments on climate change, then he's likely going to draw the ire of Republicans and others domestically who believe that the U.S. must protect its interests first when negotiating to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Such opponents will call for greater commitments from the economies of China and India, where the U.S. is sure to face fierce competition in the coming years and decades.
Hillary Clinton has been in Copenhagen and pledged U.S. financial aid to poor nations who do not possess the financial resources to appropriately police and enforce programs calling for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. When one stops to think of the sheer enormity of the undertaking that is being suggested, you have to wonder about its viability on even the most fundamental level. Who is going to stop those in China or India - or some third world country - from creating whatever emissions they deem necessary to achieve whatever means they deem to constitute progress. It sounds impossible.