Editorial: Don’t COP out

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) formally began yesterday in Copenhagen. The eyes of an asthmatic Earth are looking for the 190 attending nations to set a new standard in carbon reduction.

Cuts in emissions should have happened a long time ago. Unfortunately, the U.S. is the only industrialized nation not abiding by the Kyoto Protocol. Now is President Barack Obama’s time to atone for the sins of the father.

The big problem is getting massive polluters — like the U.S. and China — to agree on significant emissions cuts. Together, these countries account for 40 percent of all carbon emitted, according to Nation Master statistics. If they don’t agree on cuts, and pledge help for unindustrialized countries, smaller nations have almost no encouragement to stifle their growth.

Thankfully, Obama managed to get a pledge from China on his recent visit — something obscured by an excursion he’d otherwise like to forget. China has agreed to cut carbon dioxide emissions by at least 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, according to the Global Times. Likewise, the Obama plan cuts emissions by 30 percent by 2025 and 80 percent by 2050.

These are breakthrough pledges, and we must refrain from jokes about hot air because it looks like the U.S. means to enforce its goals.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday that it has the authority to unilaterally regulate carbon emissions. Because it found carbon dioxide to pose health and environmental dangers, the EPA determined it no longer requires congressional legislation for action.

This is a monumental step.

Despite some hype over e-mails, the climate is changing. You don’t need a study — just look at a time lapse of Mount Fuji. Yet these e-mails threaten progress because governments must be able to combat climate change based on trustworthy data.

Everyone knows something must be done. The problem is how to do it.

Cap and trade will either upend the economy or revolutionize it. Yet companies, and thus their political lobbies, find that prospect too risky, especially in a recession.

Sometimes polluters have to be bullied. The consequences of climate change are so long-term they seem illusory. If the EPA is going to enforce carbon limits, it must do so with short-term consequences, like hefty fines, to ensure companies cannot simply continue polluting because it is still cost-efficient.

Global warming requires countries and companies to think about more than the bottom line. It’s a moral issue, but one that could potentially offer economic benefits.

This conference was held in Denmark because of the Danes’ swift and profitable acceptance of green ideals. Near Randers, local farmers pool together to purchase windmills. The turbines — many manufactured by the successful Danish company Vestas — provide so much power that some farmers sell excess back to the grid. Near Copenhagen, the harbor situates dozens of windmills that provide electricity for a bustling capital.

The Obama administration should rightly promise carbon cuts, and the EPA should actively enforce those new standards. Often, though, local efforts like these can help as much as any threat or treaty.

If Obama helps broker a climate deal including the U.S. and China, expect him to return to Copenhagen looking a little more deserving of that Nobel Peace Prize in his pocket.