Operation Copenhagen

As you read this, the world is watching Copenhagen. Top-level leaders from nearly 200 countries, tens of thousands of activists, and untold numbers of eco-oriented non-governmental organizations (NGOs)-including more than a few folks from the Santa Barbara area-have descended upon the Danish capital as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) nears completion.

With the Kyoto Protocol-the United Nations’ current, somewhat toothless climate change fighting treaty-set to expire in 2012, the Copenhagen gathering is considered by many to be the world’s last best chance to make definitive moves away from the planet-damning path we currently are on.

Drama is high. On Monday, convention delegates from developing countries including Africa, India, and Brazil temporarily stormed out of the negotiations, outraged about the process’s failure to address their concerns about what climate change means for them. Others, like some in the United States and Europe, are actively speaking out against the authenticity of the science behind the call for climate change reform. To them, the notion of a global climate in flux due to human behavior is little more than a load of agenda-driven crap.