The big news coming out of the Bali Climate Convention (see our previous coverage) has been the steadfast commitment of the U.S. delegation (along with Canada and Japan) to avoid binding greenhouse gas emissions reductions. In fact, the U.S. seems to be in favor of eschewing numbers all together in favor of using Bali as nothing more than a platform for further negotiations.

Historically, the Bush Administration has been in favor of non-binding targets for developed nations. There was hope that, given the severity of the climate crisis, Al Gore and the IPCC's Nobel Peace Prize, the recent letter from over 200 scientists urging action, and myriad other pressures, the U.S. delegation might change its tune at Bali.

Late last week, things looked slightly positive. Dot Earth's Andrew Revkin reported that negotiators were beginning to feel more pressure from "armies of observers," to make a substantial declaration.

However, news soon took a turn for the worse. Harlan Watson, head of the U.S. delegation, stated "We're not changing our position" on binding emissions targets (Forbes). Although Watson claimed, "We're not trying to detract from the United Nations process", there are signs that suggest otherwise. One of these signs is that President Bush announced his plans to organize another meeting, unrelated to the U.N., that would bring together 17 of the largest greenhouse gas emitting countries to develop their own numbers and solutions. Although the meeting itself is not a surprise (the first of these meetings took place in September of this year), we have to be disappointed to hear that the next one may effectively disregard Bali and develop independent plans, objectives, and targets.

Meanwhile, an earthquake struck not far off the coast of Bali on Friday morning, leading the New York Times' The Lede to suggest, only partially in jest, "Ah! Gaia's calling card." No, the earthquake probably wasn't caused by global warming. But as the Lede put it, "Still, one thinks with a smile, if the natural world did have a mind and personality of its own, isn't it just the kind of thing an earth goddess might do?"

Complaints and concern over the dogmatic inaction of the U.S., along with fellow naysayers Canada and Japan, began to rise in volume and intensity. On Saturday, the Times of India reported that an Indian delegate had harshly criticized industrialized nations for their desire to push the economic burden of greenhouse gas emissions reductions off onto developing countries, which are in much less of a position to do so. The delegate reportedly said, "We want [industrialized countries] to be accountable for their existing failures. Right now, they have no credibility to ask us for commitments but if Bali papers over their existing failures, then it would clean the slate for them."

However, it seems that even all this pressure mounted against the U.S. delegation won't induce changes in its stance. A draft document was circulated around Bali with targets for developed countries of a 25%-40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2020, but the response from Harlan Watson was less than receptive. "Our principal difficulty with having any numbers in the text to begin with," he said, "is that it might prejudge outcomes.'' He added, "I think we will not be alone in having problems with defining numbers upfront.'' (Bloomberg). The truth is, he is probably right about that. Japan, Canada, and Australia have all opposed binding reductions for developed countries as well (although Australia's recent ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and the upcoming arrival in Bali of new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd put the country in its own category). Rather than committing to anything at all in Bali, these countries want the Conference to be just a "roadmap to future negotiations" (The Daily Green).

On the upside, the U.S. and Canadian delegations' commitment to impede action at Bali earned them shares of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals at Friday's Fossil of the Day awards, with Canada taking 1 st, the U.S. in 2nd, and the two sharing 3rd (Bali ECO Issue 8). The awards, announced daily in Bali by members of the Climate Action Network, are presented to the countries that are viewed to have made the "worst input to the negotiations" and demonstrated "outstanding effort to block progress."

In related news, Al Gore was in Oslo today accepting the Nobel Peace Prize along with the leaders of the IPCC. An excerpt from his speech:

There is an African proverb that says, 'If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.' We need to go far, quickly… This week, I will urge the delegates in Bali to adopt a bold mandate for a treaty that establishes a universal global cap on emissions and uses the market in emissions trading to efficiently allocate resources to the most effective opportunities for speedy reductions.

This treaty should be ratified and brought into effect everywhere in the world by the beginning of 2010 -- two years sooner than presently contemplated. The pace of our response must be accelerated to match the accelerating pace of the crisis itself… So let us renew [our political will], and say together: "We have a purpose. We are many. For this purpose we will rise, and we will act.' – Al Gore, Nobel lecture

For the full text of Gore's speech, a worthy read, go here.