No Consensus On Curbing Climate Change
This column was written by CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.
The global warming conference in Bali is winding down and it's not likely any kind of agreement will be forthcoming.
As we've reported, the United States doesn't want to be boxed in by benchmarks for carbon emissions, saying it's too big a risk to the economy and complaining the Chinese won't agree so why should we. It's a head-in-the-sand approach that leaves many of our friends dumbfounded if not irate.
A frustrated New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has aggressively pursued a green agenda, told me today from Bali that the United States should be leading on these issues. Al Gore, fresh from his Nobel ceremony in Oslo, told the delegates the same thing.
The U.S. need look no further than NASA, whose scientists have been reporting climate change for years. This week NASA announced that artic ice was melting even faster than they predicted. "The artic is screaming," said one, and I wonder why we aren't listening.
Harry's daily commentary can be heard on many CBS Radio News affiliates across the country.