Climate, Congress & Copenhagen

The global climate conference next month in Copenhagen has had a long drum roll of sky-high expectations.
This is it, the world has been told as recently as last month by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The make-or-break moment on reining in climate change.
Apparently the U.S. Senate did not get that memo. A comprehensive climate change bill has faced tough going there. Republicans boycotting the whole process. Democrats divided and afraid of economic fallout. The clock ticking.
This hour, On Point: One month before Copenhagen, where the U.S. stands.
You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.Guests:

Margaret Kriz Hobson, energy and environment correspondent for National Journal. She wrote recently about "the Senate's climate-change dealmakers."  She also writes a federal column for the Environmental Law Institute’s Environmental Forum magazine.

Dave Hamilton, director of the Sierra Club’s global warming and energy program.

Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat from Ohio. He wants Congress to provide free allowances under the cap and trade program to companies that need to transition to using cleaner burning fuels and manufacturing green energy products. He is also pushing Senate Democrats to require that importers pay a carbon dioxide fee for products made in countries that don’t control their greenhouse gases.