Environment

Climate Change Forum in Poland: Delegates hope Obama will bring US onboard

by Tina Kells | December 1, 2008 at 01:12 pm

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The Kyoto Accord to address global warming will expire in 2012 and delegates from all over the planet are meeting in Poland this week to discuss the next step in international efforts to combat climate change.

The Climate Change Forum started the week on a hopeful note. Many feel that international efforts to combat global warming have been severely hobbled by the Bush administration's refusal to ask US business to adhere to the Kyoto guidelines. World leaders from conforming nations are hopeful that Obama will stay true to his promise of change and bring the US into the fold.

Global warming has been mainly blamed on emmissions from cars and factories, and the United States is one of the worst offenders. Delegates at the Climate Change Forum are warning that renewable energy such as solar and wind power may become a necessity, not a luxury, within the next 10 years. Obama needs to bring the US in line with the rest of the world in order for global warming to be properly addressed.

Delegates from nearly every nation began discussions in Poznan, Poland Monday in an effort to create a new global climate change pact to replace the Kyoto Treaty, which expires in 2012.

Some 10,000 representatives will spend the next 12 days negotiating a new pact aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Delegates to the conference say they would like to have a deal ready to be signed next year in Copenhagen.

The Kyoto agreement has been crippled by the Bush administration's refusal to have the U.S. ratify the agreement, saying it would harm the economy.

However, some countries have expressed hope the Obama administration will follow through on the incoming president's promises to make the U.S. much more ecologically friendly.

Meanwhile, the U.N. climate chief is warning against what he calls "cheap and dirty" power as a quick fix to the global financial crisis, saying it will lead to another economic disaster.