The UN Climate Change Conference opened in Copenhagen this morning, with conference President Connie Hedegaard of Denmark telling delegates from 192 nations that they must take action now or risk putting off for years a crucial agreement to curb global greenhouse gas emissions. “This is our chance,” said Hedegaard, Denmark’s former minister for climate end energy. “If we miss it, it could take years before we get a new and better one — if we ever do.” As the first day of the conference drew to a close, the Obama administration made a dramatic announcement in Washington, with the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) saying that her agency planned to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions because they posed a threat to human health. The announcement by EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson had been expected, but coming on the opening day of the Copenhagen conference it signaled to the world that the U.S. planned to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions even if Congress fails to pass climate legislation next year.
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