by Tom Laskawy To top off all the environmental excitement of the day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton introduced her new Special Envoy for Climate Change, Todd Stern. We can applaud this move not simply because, of course, our most recent former president didn't have one of those himself. But more importantly because it signals the significant role the State Department will have in any political solution to climate change. As for Stern, he was lead negotiator for the US at the Kyoto talks under President Clinton and, naturally, he's another alumni of the Center for American Progress. Which should serve as a reminder that we should all stay on good terms with Matt Yglesias. Meanwhile, this goes way beyond Stern being the guy who shows up at the climate talks in Copenhagen at the end of year. As Joe Romm likes to say, saving the planet is all about making a deal with China - now the world's number one emitter of carbon and having shown no sign of losing its love for coal. If Stern can't bring China along - and that will undoubtedly be one of his prime responsibilities - we're never going to reduce worldwide emissions enough to stave off that 5°C-7°C warming we're facing (am I the only one who has to remind myself that °C are a lot bigger than °F? We're talking about a 9°-12°F increase in world temperatures - that's hot!) Interestingly, Romm recently uncovered a telling exchange between Sen. Evan Bayh and Energy Secretary Stephen Chu during the latter's confirmation hearing explicitly suggesting that climate legislation wouldn't make much progress in the Senate without a clear sense of cooperation from China. And if Bayh thinks that, it's likely that other moderate Senators agree - no China, no US climate deal. Mr. Stern, you have your marching orders.
