Asia-Pacific leaders: no final deal in Copenhagen

Here's the word from the Singapore meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders which includes Japan and the U.S. There'll be plenty of global warming talk at the Copehagen talks beginning December 7. There will be no binding deal reached. That situation will be reinforced when President Obama meets with China's President Hu.

Meanwhile, Copehagen's hosting a pre-meeting meeting. Forty major countries have sent their environmental ministers or lead negotiators. Think of the carbon footprint of all those jets. Couldn't they do a Skype conference call?

This week's pre-meeting meetings are closed to the media in Copenhagen, but there'll likely be plenty of publicity by those trying to pressure others to do what they want. As you might expect, some Europeans are reporting that the delaying tactics leading up to Copenhagen and no agreement...why that's due to the fact that the U.S. Senate has not passed a climate and energy bill.

There is a distinct gulf between what rich nations and poor nations are looking for. As often is the case, the money part of any agreement is proving to be the toughest part. Who pays whom to stop polluting the one atmosphere we have?