To Limit or Not to Limit Global Warming to 2 degrees C?

Swedish Minister for the Environment Andreas Carlgren leading the EU delegation to Washington DC, USA, on 23–26 August for climate negotiations started out optimistically with the following message to the US:

• It is vital that the US is involved in the next climate agreement if we are to manage climate issues. 
• The EU and the US have a common interest and task in helping to fund adaptation measures and technology transfer to developing countries. This is crucial in order to enable the countries of the world to conclude an agreement in Copenhagen in December
• The right conclusions must now be drawn for how the temperature rise is to be kept below 2 degrees Celsius.

However, today Carlgren reports pessimistically: 

• Some wine some water...the pace of the negotiations is slow, and they need a kick-start at political level if they are going to be concluded in Copenhagen.
  

EU led by Sweden wants to save the world from overheating, but the US, China and India are are slow to jump on the wagon. Why? Is it because they are not convinced by IPCC? Or are they convinced, but nevertheless choose to march on towards catastrophy? Is Obama stepping back from his bold plans for his presidency and his promise at the meeting in Aquila in July:

• The G8 nations agreed that by 2050, we'll reduce our emissions by 80 percent and that we'll work with all nations to cut global emissions in half. 

Is the Copenhagen meeting collapsing even before starting? Sweden and Carlgren has a tough job to do...Maybe it is not so easy to convince rich people that the have get poorer and poor people that they have to stay poor...

Listen to Roy Spencer Testimony to the US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

and his lecture at the Heartland Institute  2009 International Conference on Climate Change.