Experts on the chances of a global climate [scam] deal working in Mexico in 2010 | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Li Yan, Greenpeace China's climate campaigner
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In China, now there are stronger conservative voices and more concerns about the changed diplomatic circumstances and the economic downturn. In the media, you see more climate scepticism, particularly global cooling stories after the heavy winter snow. Famous economists such as Lang Xinping, are publicly criticising the interest groups that stand to benefit from the switch to a low-carbon economy and some scientists are questioning the need for a 2050 global target and the implications for China.

As more scepticism emerges, this demonstrates that scientists, economists and other opinion leaders are no longer looking at climate change as a simple, easy issue.
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Tom Burke, director of E3G

"Copenhagen killed any real chance of a US bill this year. Procrastination is written into the DNA of the Senate and without the need to validate commitments made in Copenhagen there is no overwhelming reason for the Senate to do something this difficult this year. Brown's election simply reduces the prospects from less than 10% to less than 5%. There is some possibility that there will be enough in an energy bill to call it an energy and climate bill but the climate stuff will be window dressing and base massaging not substantive."

In winter's chill, cold batteries mean trouble for plug-in cars - Living Green - Fresnobee.com

Nobody worried about cold-weather performance of electric vehicle battery packs when it was warm outside, but now that Old Man Winter has descended, the problem is beginning to surface. When cars have a range of no more than 100 miles, the loss of 20 to 30 percent of that is a very big issue indeed.
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Timothy Gill, a New Jersey computer consultant describes the 65 to 70 miles he gets from his Mini E as "pathetic." His experiences include needing a tow truck when the car was a mile from home - and he thought he had plenty of juice left. But he still loves his Mini E, as do most of the people testing it in New York, New Jersey and California.
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As Consumer Reports points out, Mitsubishi warns drivers of its i-MiEV electric not to use the heater because it will cut the range in half. And the heater is a likely factor in the BMW Mini E's range-loss, too.
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A Mini E driver commenting on my New York Times story on the car's cold issues posted, "The reduced range in cold weather is mostly from the use of the heater, and not the fact that it is cold outside. I've done some experimenting with dressing very warmly and not using the heater (yeah, I know I'm crazy) and the range was almost as good as it was when it was warm outside. That being said, you do need to use a heater so the range is 20 to 25 percent less than it was in the summer."

In an attempt to prevent global warming, how many sane people in cold regions will shiver in an expensive, range-limited car?