Kyoto, Japan, the site of the first-ever global meeting on the issue of climate change and precursor to the Copenhagen conference. (image: intellectualtakeout.org)

In a Wednesday piece in the U.K. Guardian, (probably the best news source around for the Copenhagen Summit) co-founders of the Copenhagen Climate Council Tim Flannery and Erik Rasmussen dissected the world of difference between Copenhagen and Kyoto. Back in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was the first legally binding set of requirements for developed economies to reduce emissions by 2010. But the authors name three deficiencies right off the bat:

1. The reductions required in the agreement are now considered small by today’s scientific standards.

2. Rapidly developing nations have no limits placed on their emissions; the entire burden is placed on fully industrialized nations.

3. There is no real guidance for business on how to reduce emissions and remain profitable in the long term.

Beyond the agreement itself, there are marked differences in the science being presented at today’s conference, and, perhaps even more importantly, public opinion has greatly shifted. As the pair points out, Kyoto occurred before An Inconvenient Truth, Hurricane Katrina, and other drastic climate-based disasters. We now live in a world where the climate change agenda is front and center, both in the peoples’ minds and the politicians.

Although the recent controversy stemming from the illegally released emails by some leading scientists has re-ignited skepticism about man-made global warming (particularly in the US), the majority of the global community is aware of and concerned about the issue of climate change.

(image: blogcdn.com)

On Wednesday, former Vice President Al Gore appeared as the guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to discuss his new book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, and field questions from the famously satirical host.

Gore is known for his 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, an alarming look at the progressions of global warming and how humans are responsible both for the destruction of our atmosphere and for coming up with a solution.

On The Daily Show, Gore told Stewart, “We have all the tools we need to solve this – the only thing missing is political will.”Stewart, who shelved his typically comedic interrogation for smart, pointed questions, asked about the disconnect between the dire nature of the situation and our world’s slow, inefficient response: “Has the urgency of the language taken away from the message of the solutions?”

The urgency, Gore said, is no joke. There are some steps that have been taken, such as the development of a “super grid” that will transport solar energy across the US. But, he said, political cooperation, public participation and support from Big Oil is still missing.