Climate Breakthrough: Obama and China Commit to Change

From Mark Hertsgaard, Vanity Fair.

You wouldn’t know it from the coverage in the mainstream media, but last week may go down as a turning point in the history of the climate crisis. After months of putting health care first, President Obama finally stepped up the plate and, amazingly, secured what has long been the Holy Grail of climate diplomacy: a U.S.-China climate deal. Speaking in Beijing on November 17 alongside Chinese president Hu Jintao, Obama said he hoped the U.S.-China accord would “rally the world” toward solutions at the U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen, December 7 to 18. After months of Obama’s aides lowering expectations for Copenhagen, and even suggesting that he would not attend the summit, the president signaled that climate change is a top priority and that he is prepared to spend real political capital to achieve a breakthrough, both in Copenhagen and on Capitol Hill.

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