Visiting Washington last week, UK Climate Secretary, Ed Milibrand said that the changes wrought in US global warming policy had dramatically increased the likelihood of reaching agreement on a new international treaty at Copenhagen this year.
“No-one wants to be the nation that wrecks a global deal [on climate change],” he told reporters in Washington. The United States held out until the last minute at the Bali conference in December 2007, making its agreement conditional on hard targets for developing nations India, China and Brazil.
Since then, the situation has radically worsened, with scientists predicting up to a four degree temperature rise by mid-century and global disasters that could cost the lives of billions of people. United States investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency under President Obama’s financial rescue package will leapfrog the leadership shown by European nations such as Germany.