G8 takes near-action on global warming--are you surprised?

A minimal sort of statement of intentions from the G8 Summit in Japan happened. Too many conflicting interests. Too much money and power at stake. Perhaps not enough serious consequences yet.

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Apparently the leaders of the eight biggest economies could NOT agree on a baseline year from which greenhouse gases would be reduced by 2050. But this G8 "global warming agreement" does have one unique attribute, both Russia and the US have nodded approval. However, the vagueness of what will be deminished and how it is to be measured remains.

And the largest international disagreement continues: how much must developing nations like China and India do to cut their emissions. They claim such efforts would stunt economic growth, of course. Meanwhile, it'll be interesting to see if the rest of the world breathes deeply while attenind the pending Olympics in China in a few weeks.