We at U.S. Democrazy love December. Lots of holidays, food, presents… what more could we ask for?
But now there’s another reason to look forward to the end of the year: the global environmental summit in Copenhagen! Woo Hoo!
Okay, this may not be a typical “December-type” party, but this is a really important gathering.
The major countries in the world are coming together to talk about climate change and pollution issues. The meeting is supposed to replace the Kyoto Protocol, a 1997 international agreement to limit polluting ‘Greenhouse gases”.
Now, everyone agrees it is time to update that protocol. But… that may be the only thing everyone agrees on!
Many folks are looking for India and China to promise to lower their emission rates. While the two countries have agreed to slow the growth of pollution they emit, they also argue that industrialized countries in the west (they’re looking at you, America) have contributed the most to the emission of harmful gases.
India and China want The West to make sacrifices too.
President Obama and Hu Jintao, the president of China, recently spoke on the phone about the treaty. As the leaders of the two biggest producers of harmful gases, the success of the summit will largely be in their hands… and their smokestacks!
