Coastalsurvey

A month after the failed climate talks in Copenhagen, the news cycle has shifted to more entertaining topics. Underwear bombers, bank bonuses and the ongoing train wreck of the economy have dominated US news channels. Yet the issues that led to the UN-sponsored conference in Denmark still remain. After the world’s leaders failed to sign a binding climate treaty in Copenhagen, is there any reason to hope that we will reach a real solution for global warming?

What we can expect from a warming planet

Certainly, the Obama Administration was eager to put a positive spin on the non-treaty, arguing that incremental progress is better than no progress. Although, Bill McKibben’s post-mortem of Copenhagen seems more realistic. “It’s possible that human beings will simply never be able to figure out how to bring global warming under control,” McKibben wrote shortly after the close of the conference.

Talks, of course, are continuing. Last week Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh invited his counterparts from Brazil, China and South Africa to discuss climate issues in New Delhi later this month, prior to another round of UN climate talks in Bonn. There will also be another climate summit in Mexico City at the end of this year.

Yesterday Germany announced that it would stick to its ambitious goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2020, Reuters reported. This is hopeful news and demonstrates that developed nations can lead by example, if they choose to.

However, the most positive stories at Copenhagen came from the streets, not the conference rooms. Tens of thousands of ordinary citizens protested their demand for a real climate treaty, while hundreds of sub-national organizations — state and city governments — shared practical ideas to reduce carbon emissions in their regions.

Maybe local action is the best hope for mitigating human-powered environmental damage because, on the really tough issues, national and international governments don’t lead –  they follow.