I Guess We Have Longer to Save the World Than We Thought

Several world leaders in recent months have given us the countdown to save the world, the number of days left to enact crippling climate regulations that would keep Mother Gaia's heart ticking for a bit longer.

Maybe not.

I guess Mother Gaia isn't quite yet on the critical list because suddenly we have more time:

President Barack Obama and other world leaders agreed today that next month's much-anticipated climate change summit will be merely a way station, not the once hoped-for end point, in the search for a worldwide global warming treaty.

The 192-nation climate conference beginning in three weeks in Copenhagen had originally been intended to produce a new global climate-change treaty. Hopes for that have dimmed lately. But comments by Obama and fellow leaders at a hastily arranged breakfast meeting here on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit served to put the final nail in any remaining expectations for the December summit.

"There was an assessment by the leaders that it is unrealistic to expect a full internationally, legally binding agreement could be negotiated between now and Copenhagen which starts in 22 days," said Michael Froman, Obama's deputy national security adviser for international economic matters.

Of course, these delays give the rest of the world a little more time to realize that global warming stopped in 1998, thus making their economy-crippling plans harder to sell.

That's a good thing. Enjoy the cooler weather.

And in the spirit of reducing carbon footprints, I guess the delay means Obama's 71 vehicle motorcade which he had in China won't be that big of a deal.