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There are many things that are being said about the shortcomings of the Copenhagen negotiations, but with the science telling us we must take action now if we are to protect our climate as well as the people impacted by climate change and the rich bio-diversity of this planet we call home, there is little time to debate the outcome. The time has come to act.
Coming out of Copenhagen, we have a political agreement by the leaders of the largest emitter nations who, eye ball to eye ball, hammered out the Copenhagen Accord; an agreement that goes beyond Kyoto to secure first time commitments to reduce emissions from the US as well as developing countries like China, India and Brazil.
Admittedly, the agreement does not go far enough to keep the average temperature of the earth from exceeding two degrees centigrade, but these new commitments by the US and by developing countries are a historic step forward, as President Obama noted in comments after the agreement was struck. The objection to the agreement of small island nations like Tuvalu, that face extinction if further progress is not achieved, is understandable. Clearly, this first step can not be the last.
For Americans who recognize the risks of climate change, there is one overwhelmingly important task that flows from this agreement: we must pass a clean energy and climate bill in 2010, and with mid-term elections bearing down on us, it is essential that Congress act before Earth Day, April 22, 2010.
President Obama has taken the political risk to commit the United States to the vision of a clean energy future with greenhouse gas emission reductions consistent with the legislation now pending before the Congress. It is now up to us to compel the Senate to act. We must not fail, we can not fail, in taking this first step toward a clean energy future protected from the risks of climate change.
Glen Besa, has spent the last two weeks in Copenhagen as a member of the Sierra Club's delegation to the UN Climate Conference. He is the director of the Virginia Chapter of Sierra Club.
Just about every one has scene the Sci-Fi classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). (I did not see the recent remake.) In some ways what is happening today in Copenhagen is a real day when the earth stood still awaiting an outcome at the UN climate negotiations.
As in the movie, the fate of the earth is being decided, but this time the threat is not alien, it is of our own making-climate change. Just as in the movie there is high drama but here it is world leaders who must decide the course we will take.
Unlike in the movies, there will be no dramatic final ending here this week. Whatever the outcome, we face months or years of additional negotiations and years of hard work fighting fossil fuel interests who will resist implementation of any international agreement or federal legislation adopted by the US Congress. After Copenhagen, the work begins again!
Since those of us in Copenhagen are locked out of the UN negotiations, you can join us watching history being made (we hope) on line at :
As world leaders gather in Copenhagen to negotiate a new global climate agreement, 350.org is hosting candlelight vigils around the world, with several such vigils taking place in Virginia.
Folks in Southside Hampton Roads will gather starting at 6:30 on Friday, December 11 at the Unitarian Church of Norfolk, 739 Yarmouth Street on the Hague. Speakers include ODU Professor and scholar David Burdige, Department of Ocean Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. For more information, contact Rev. Phyllis L. Hubbell, 410-916-1793, phubbell@uuma.org.
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As world leaders gather in Copenhagen to negotiate a new global climate agreement, 
