Efforts to stem global warming moving at a glacial pace

And as Monitor science writer Peter Spotts wrote the other day, there’s new evidence that “Global warming appears to be melting the ice on Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro.” He notes that “mountain glaciers in tropical South America and the Himalayas are undergoing similar changes.”

Even so, reports Voice of America, “world leaders say a global climate treaty might be postponed by up to a year.”

Meanwhile, President Obama is throwing what political weight he can behind efforts to stem global climate change. After meeting with European Union leaders in Washington this week, he told reporters:

“We discussed climate change extensively and all of us agreed that it was imperative for us to redouble our efforts in the weeks between now and the Copenhagen meeting to ensure that we create a framework for progress.”

There may be some wishful thinking there. It’s not only recalcitrant Republicans and global warming deniers he faces. Within the environmental community there are sharp differences over how to proceed, reports David A. Fahrenthold of the Washington Post. He writes:

“Now, some groups have muted their alarms about wildfires, shrinking glaciers and rising seas. Not because they've stopped caring about them -- but because they're trying to win over people who might care more about a climate bill's non-environmental side benefits, such as "green" jobs and reduced oil imports.

Smaller environmental groups, however, say this is the wrong moment to ease up on the scare because that might send the signal that a weaker bill is acceptable.

At the heart of this intra-green disagreement is a behemoth of an unanswered question: Even after years of apocalyptic warnings about climate change, how much will Americans really sacrifice to fight it?”

Meanwhile, drip-drip-drip…..

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