U.S. must keep up with rest of world

Guest editorial: U.S. must keep up with rest of world

By Stephen Smith, DVM

The goal should be a fair, ambitious and binding treaty that responds to our understanding of the
scientific demands needed to protect all global citizens, rich and poor, from the perils of accelerating
climate change. World leaders failed to deliver this in Copenhagen.

But if that is the only narrative to come out of the summit, it does not tell the whole story. Some very
significant tectonic shifts happened leading up to and during the two weeks of meetings. These shifts
shed light on the path forward for the U.S. and other nations.

It was clear from my week in Copenhagen that worldwide expectation and awareness of the need for
action to address global warming continues to expand. You could see this very clearly from the
thousands of youth who observed the talks and from the high level of international participation, both by
nations and businesses. It would be wrong to underestimate the significance of having the world's top
emitters — China, the United States, India and Brazil — now engaged on this issue in new ways through
the Copenhagen Accord.

It was obvious the U.S. negotiators came to the talks hamstrung by partisan gridlock in a Congress that
has thus far failed to pass comprehensive climate legislation. President Barack Obama's intense
discussions with China in the 11th hour played a key role in salvaging the talks and set the stage for
what could lead to a comprehensive agreement in 2010. He had to walk a fine line of not getting too far
ahead of domestic politics, while engaging world leaders.

America's standing at stake

The next steps out of Copenhagen will be for the U.S. and other nations, including China and India, to
submit their commitments in writing to become embodied into the Copenhagen Accord. This will allow
for the best assessment of what countries are willing to do to reduce their emissions. The accord should
serve as a framework for further international negotiations in 2010 on additional reductions, how to make
commitments binding and how to verify follow through. At home, Congress must move quickly to pass a
national bill to address global climate change. The House of Representatives has passed a bill and is
waiting on the Senate.

Some voices who maintain a financial interest in the fossil fuel business as usual will argue that no
action is needed and we should continue to bury our heads in the sand and remain naively ignorant to
the increasing changes in both the natural world and the global marketplace. Meanwhile, China and
India are already moving ahead of the U.S. in the development and production of clean energy
technology. The low-carbon clean energy technology revolution will be the next great economic engine
of prosperity.

Unless the U.S. can pass a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill this spring that will significantly boost U.S. investment in clean energy technology, we risk losing our competitive edge worldwide in the newly emerging low-carbon marketplace. More importantly, we risk losing our standing in the world as a functioning society capable of responding to the challenges of our world. If we continue to allow the corrupting influence of fossil fuel (coal, oil and gas) dollars pouring into Washington from the carbon-intensive companies and countries that desperately want to hold on to the status quo, then America's beacon of democracy will be dimmed at home and around the world.