CAN THEY GIVE HIM ANOTHER NOBEL CONSOLATION PRIZE?:

Obama emerges from climate talks with slender pact and bruised stature (Suzanne Goldenberg, 12/19/09, guardian.co.uk)

[H]e acknowledged the skimpy 2.5 page draft produced at the end of his effort was not the comprehensive agreement he had come to Copenhagen for. [...]

Although he called for bold and decisive action, Obama – who had been skittish at going to Copenhagen in the first place – offered no sign that Washington was willing to take such steps itself.

There were no further commitments on reducing emissions, or on finance for poor countries, beyond Hillary Clinton's announcement that the US would support a $100bn global fund to help developing nations adapt to climate change. He did not press the Senate to move ahead on climate change legislation, which environmental organisations have been urging for months. Obama did say America would follow through on his administration's clean energy agenda, and would live up to its pledges.

But in the absence of any evidence of that commitment the words rang hollow and there was a palpable sense of disappointment in the audience.