G8 Punts on Carbon Caps Until Copenhagen - Greg Pollowitz - Planet Gore on National Review Online

Today's WSJ reports on the G8 and emissions targets:

L'AQUILA, Italy — The leaders of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate are likely to drop numerical targets for global warming emissions from a statement to be released here Thursday, pledging to reach agreement on hard caps at a December climate change conference in Copenhagen, according to European negotiators and a person close to the talks

Can Obama Keep Pledge to Lead on Climate? - [Revkin tries to provide excuses for Obama] - NYTimes.com

Throughout his run for the White House and after his election, President Obama pledged to restore the United States to a position of leadership in global talks aimed at a new treaty cutting emissions of greenhouse gases.

But can he do that considering the constraints on any president, which include a requirement that two-thirds of the Senate must consent to United States participation in an international treaty?
...
In such talks, Mr. Obama is essentially shackled by the need for congressional approval, particularly for the consent of the Senate on any participation by the United States in a treaty. This domestic political reality constrains all presidents.

1. Did Revkin provide similar excuses for Bush?

2. Didn't Obama know about these constraints back when he made his grandiose campaign promises?

Barack Obama: “I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.”