Lipstick on a pig at Copenhagen?

So the United Nations Conference on Climate Change at Copenhagen has ended and our brave world leaders are -not altogether convincingly- calling it a "good start." That's nice, except the many conventions that built up to Copenhagen, Bali and others, were supposed to be the "good starts." Copenhagen was supposed to be the "happy ending," or at least the blue print for a happy ending.

I, for one, am disappointed. There was a last-minute agreement between major emitters including the U.S., India and China, which could be made legally binding this coming year. This already falls short of the Copenhagen vision on many levels. It is not a holistic pact that would involve all nations; it doesn't spell out specific reduction targets; it alienated smaller developing nations.