Adoption of Climate Treaty by 2009 in Doubt During his campaign,
U.S. president-elect Barack Obama supported a global cap-and-
trade agreement for regulating his nation's carbon emissions. As
a result, many international observers are hoping the United
States will agree to binding emissions-reduction targets at the
high-profile climate change negotiations scheduled for December
2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Such optimism may be unrealistic,
however. The ongoing financial crisis, a potential withdrawal of
U.S. troops from Iraq, and an increasingly unstable war in
Afghanistan will likely dominate the White House's political
agenda in 2009. If the United States does not accept mandatory
emissions-reduction targets at Copenhagen, a panel of
environmental leaders and climate negotiators said last week
that the climate conference will be much less meaningful. "I
doubt U.S. legislation will be ready by Copenhagen," said Elliot
Diringer, vice president of international strategies at the Pew
Center on Global Climate Cha