Congress Halting World's Plan

With the world planning to gather in Copenhagen at the beginning of December hoping to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 20 percent, the U.S. Congress is shaping how countries will prepare. Many say that the Congress's unwillingness to sign on to an emissions reduction treaty of that size will forestall any major progress. “Are we going to be forever hostage to the U.S. Congress?” a negotiator from the Philippines said to Bloomberg News. The answer seems to be yes. One environmental analyst said that American hesitancy is holding everyone else in place: "It’s having a big ripple-on effect for the rest of the negotiations.”