Obama won't attend Copenhagen climate summit

President Obama will almost certainly not travel to the Copenhagen climate change summit in December

With healthcare reform clogging his domestic agenda and no prospect of a comprehensive climate treaty in Copenhagen, Mr Obama may disappoint campaigners and foreign leaders who have urged him to attend to boost the hopes of a breakthrough.

.... but...

The White House confirmed that the President would be in Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace prize.

The gap between hopes of what Mr Obama can do and reality was on show this week when another Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rajendra Pachauri of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said he thought the President should be doing more. Instead, the Obama Administration is seeking to lower expectations before Copenhagen by drawing attention to its short tenure in office, the long years of US foot-dragging on climate change under his predecessor and recent progress on domestic climate change legislation.

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Wow! Where to start...

1. Skipping Copenhagen ... after all the criticism of Bush and Kyoto.
2. Clogged domestic agenda ... how America-centric of you Barack. What about all those campaign promises?
3. Lowering expectations... mmm thats a lot like the recession and our economy. Over-promise, then lower expectations... then blame your predecessor
4. Blame game... When will we stop blaming Bush when you fail to deliver on your promises.
5. YOU ARE GOING TO ACCEPT AN AWARD FOR YOURSELF RATHER THAN FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE.

E G O