Despite Lowered Expectations, Kerry Positive on Copenhagen

Despite repeated statements from environmentalists, negotiators, and world leaders, Sen. John Kerry is still optimistic that aggressive new world policy can be established at Copenhagen, and feels strongly that President Obama should attend. The President will be in nearby Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize while the climate talks are happening, and is expected by many to at least make an appearance at Copenhagen before or after the award ceremony.

At this juncture, many business leaders and environmental groups have canceled plans to attend what could have been a historic climate summit. Conservation Law Foundation numbers among those who will not be attending Copenhagen, with Vice President Seth Kaplan stating that his time, and the time of his staff, is better spent here ‘on the ground,’ hammering away at local sources of greenhouse gas emissions and working to build the much discussed new green economy."

World leaders met in Singapore last weekend to push for a delay for the Copenhagen summit, relegating the December meeting to a "brainstorming session" to lay out the course of action for obtaining a legally-binding treaty somewhere in the indefinite future. The United States, China, and Denmark were the three countries that showed the most support for the delay, and cited that even UN environment chiefs admitted the "impossibility of a legally binding agreement."

The United States' ability to negotiate in Copenhagen has been muddled by their emissions trading law, which is still mired in the Senate. Criticized by conservatives for its broad economic impact and hardline green liberals for its negligible environmental benefits, "cap-and-trade" has survived narrow victories and a conservative boycott in the months leading up to Copenhagen, and will not be up for discussion until the U.S. reaches a final determination on the equally controversial health care reform early next year.

Despite this, Kerry stated it was important that President Obama attend the meetings in earnest. "To have [President Obama] not appear would attract a lot of negative attention and commentary. He would present a clear target for any failure to achieve a complete agreement at Copenhagen."