Political Will is a Renewable Resource

Sitting with Fran Pavely and others from our delegation. We are in the front rows as Al Gore informs delegates "Failure is not an option, we do not have the luxury of time." He relays that today 90 million tons of global warming pollution will be released into the thin shell that is our atmosphere "as if it were an open sewer."

He asks those of us who feel that the negotiations may result in an agreement that is too weak to remember the Montreal Protocols. Designed to stop the destruction of our ozone layer, the Montreal Protocols were considered too weak. Yet their signing motivated industries and countries to get out in front and find alternatives, reducing the use of ozone depleting chemicals faster than the treaty required. Now 20 years later, evidence indicates that the hole in our ozone layer is healing. I reflect on this and hope that the same can be achieved as we begin the transition away from fossil fuels. Gore expresses his belief that we are capable of success "we have solutions in hand, we have the technologies we need." He ends his remarks with "political will is a renewable resource."

The 122 heads of state are arriving, they have until end of Saturday to demonstrate to us their will.