Will Obama Save the World?

President ObamaWhen Superman needed to go from Clark Kent to the Man of Steel so he could save the world one more time, all he needed to do was find the nearest telephone booth and in a flash he went from nerdy guy to flying, invincible superhero. Copenhagen kind of needs Obama to do something along those lines- but you can’t do that in the age of cell phones! Obama is on his way to Copenhagen and nothing short of a gigantic S on his chest will change the outcome of the summit that seems lined with kryptonite and full of forces, both diabolical and strategic. Lots of good intentions with lots of politics leading on a green, leafy road to nowhere. The summit is, for lack of a better cliché, lost in the woods.

"He's sort of damned if he does, damned if he doesn't, and (so) he might as well do the thing that's right. This is the kind of thing that, if you think about it, he ran for president to do. The kind of thing he got awarded his Nobel Prize because of the potential to do," aid Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

That may just be crazy enough to work. While the EU elected a peacemaker to be its leader, eschewing Tony Blair because it believed his celebrity and outsider status would make it difficult for him to bring consensus, that may just be what is needed at Copenhagen.

Yes, the U.S. was not involved Kyoto. Yes, the U.S. STILL does not have our own legally binding agreement through Congress so we are committed to nothing when it comes to the environment. But, yes, Obama has the charisma and the opportunity to maybe change into the S suit in the bathroom on the plane or something.

He is scheduled to arrive on Friday, where 120 world leaders are already sitting around, arguing and making speeches. He’ll be there for less than a day. Obama will be working with a tentative pledge of around a 17% cut in emissions from 2005 levels, similar to the EU proposition of a 3% cut from 1990 levels. Developing nations want more. Will he be able to sweet talk them? What will he say?

"I think leaders representing developing and developed nations all over the world coming to Copenhagen gives ... an opportunity for some of those issues to be resolved and a breakthrough to happen. The president is ... hopeful that his presence can help that, and hopeful that, again, we leave Copenhagen with a strong operational agreement, even as we work toward something even stronger in the future," said Robert Gibbs.

Ok, sticking with vague. Obama will have to come out with some kind of game-changing statement, you know? The problems have been the same for months. He has to come in there with a radical new idea that makes sense- not try and get everyone to shake hands and compromise on the same deadlocking issues that have been plaguing the lead-up to and the summit itself for years. Get out the S Obama.