Al Gore, Wangari Maathai to receive NAACP awards

Environmental activists Al Gore and Wangari Muta Maathai will receive special honours at the 40th Image Awards, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said Thursday.

Gore, a former U.S. vice-president, and Maathai, creator of the non-profit organization Green Belt Movement, will be given the chairman's award at a ceremony on Feb. 12 in Los Angeles.

NAACP board chair Julian Bond chose the recipients for their special achievements and distinguished public service.

"[Gore's and Maathai's] courageous and historic accomplishments have benefited not only current but future generations, and they clearly reflect the values that we have so valiantly fought for over the past century," Bond said in a statement.

Pelosi Says Hold Off On Cap-And-Trade (For Now) - Environment and Energy

...That still leaves a snag, though. Most climate campaigners were hoping that the world could agree to a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol by the end of 2009, in talks at Copenhagen. But it would be murderously difficult for the Obama administration to strike a deal abroad without having a commitment for emissions-reductions already in place at home—if we haven't passed a hard cap, China and India won't likely adopt one, either. But, conversely, it would also be nearly impossible to get a cap-and-trade bill passed through Congress if Obama's already agreed to a treaty at Copenhagen—especially one that doesn't include firm targets for China and India. So if Congress doesn't pass a bill by the end of 2009, that may push international negotiations back, as well. You can read all about the delicate diplomatic dance involved in this Greenwire piece.

Suffice to say, timing and sequencing are going to be nightmarish questions to resolve. If there's one bright spot, though, it's that the very deep recession plaguing the planet has caused emissions to plummet—even in China, as this stunning graph dredged up by Andy Revkin illustrates...