All of a sudden the countdown to the end of the Bush administration takes on new meaning and a sense of urgency.

As Al Gore said in his address to the UN Conference on Climate Change in Bali:

Over the next two years the United States is going to be somewhere it is not now. You must anticipate that.

Indeed, there were strong anti-Bush sentiments expressed from all corners of the debate hall (all quotes from the New York Times).

Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists:

The best we hoped for was that the U.S. would not hobble the rest of the world from moving forward. Our delegation here from the States has not been able to meet that low level of expectation.

Kevin Conrad, the negotiator from Papua New Guinea:

If for some reason you are not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us. Please, get out of the way.

David D. Doniger, director of climate policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council:

The next presidential election takes place at the halfway point in these treaty talks. So the U.S. will field a new team in the second half. And there are good odds that the next president will get serious on global warming.

The end result of all this acrimony:

The world’s faltering effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions got a new lease on life on Saturday, as delegates from 187 countries agreed to negotiate a new accord over the next two years — pushing the crucial debates about United States participation into the administration of a new American president…

The resulting “Bali Action Plan” contains no binding commitments, which European countries had sought and the United States fended off. The plan concludes that “deep cuts in global emissions will be required” and provides a timetable for two years of talks to shape the first formal addendum to the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change treaty since the Kyoto Protocol 10 years ago.

At last, there's light at the end of the tunnel — even though it's 400 days away.

Carbon Neutral Journal's news is brought to you by High Country Linen Service.

Popularity: 13%