US & China Sign Historic Climate Change Deal!

Thanks, once again, to President Obama!  This is a potentially HUGE deal, and I am going to spend a big part of today reading up on precisely what's included - and not included.  I'm starting with the piece on Slate.com, here.

But I'm worried, on so many levels.

The announcement that China will be producing 20% of its energy from clean sources by 2030 seems too good to be true.

It also seems to be too little, too late.

And there are no enforcement mechanisms built into the agreement, which seems perilous, given the wave of GOP legislators set to descend on Washington and do their darnedest to block the President's every move.

John Kerry wrote an op ed in the New York Times opining about how the US and China are "encouraging other countries to put forward their own ambitious emissions reduction targets soon and to overcome traditional divisions so we can conclude a strong global climate agreement in 2015."

Again, worried.  Seems possible that, instead, other nations may stand back and say, "You go, Big Guys!  We'll see how it goes and act later."  Or perhaps, "You go, Big Guys!  That should solve the problem, and we won't have to reduce our measly little emissions!"

Global climate negotiations start up again in mid-December, in Peru, and then it's on to Le Bourget in 2015.

And then?

I have my fingers crossed, but honestly, my hopes aren't high.  And we have a big fight ahead of us, to hold our legislators' collective feet to the fire (Exhibit A: Jim Inhofe)and make sure something actually happens!

Otherwise, it's all just so much hot air.