Signs that the Climate Summit didn't work out well

President Obama says: This is "meaningful and unprecedented breakthrough"

Even the Politico, which is generally very positive on the Obama administration, had to say this about the Copenhagen conference.

The climate deal reached between U.S, China and other great powers on Friday night is so vague, hastily hatched and non-binding President Obama isn’t even sure he’ll be required to sign it.

“You know, it raises an interesting question as to whether technically there's actually a signature… It's not a legally binding agreement, I don't know what the protocols are,” said a bleary-eyed Obama, before hopping in Air Force One for the trip back to Washington.

The official accord voted on by the 193-nation COP-15 Conference noted but did not endorse the deal struck by the leaders of the U.S., China, India, South Africa and Brazil.

"It’s a catastrophe," said Dan Joergensen, a member of the European delegation, of the five-nation agreement. "We’re so far away from the criteria that was set up in order to call it a success, and those weren’t really that ambitious to start with."

Obama told reporters he was able to extract a first-ever commitment by India and China to subject their internal monitoring of emissions to international scrutiny, a move he had earlier tied to American participation in a $100 billion-per-year fund for poor nations. . . .

From the PBS NewsHour:

"DANIEL BECKER (director of Safe Climate Campaign, an advocacy group. He was formerly director of the Sierra Club's Global Warming Program): It's a major disappointment."

The summit couldn't even have the traditional photo of heads of state. You know that things are in trouble when politicians won't even pose for a picture.

The photographer had been booked for midday but as the UN climate summit dragged into overtime Friday, the traditional heads of state portrait fell victim to divisions among the family of leaders.
An official statement at the conference said the portrait had been postponed and it was hoped to be rearranged before the leaders leave Copenhagen. . . .