The (Ex) Washington Realist

One message coming from both the Moscow summit and the G-8 loud and clear to president Obama is that other countries want to see concrete U.S. action first before they make any commitments.

I had opined that because the president did not have the benefit of having passed his climate change legislation before going to the G-8, other states would pass on reaching an agreement.

From today's New York Times:

In the end, people close to the talks said, the emerging powers refused to agree to the limits because they wanted industrial countries to commit to midterm goals in 2020 and to follow through on promises of financial and technological help in reducing emissions.

“They’re saying, ‘We just don’t trust you guys,’ ” said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group based in the United States. “It’s the same gridlock we had last year when Bush was president.”