Here's a story of two presidents, Barack Obama of the United States and Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives.
Both are young and charismatic. Both were elected last fall to replace discredited incumbents (Nasheed's predecessor ruled the island nation for three decades and kept him in a political prison for years). Both have troublesome legislatures (the opposition party controls the chamber in the Maldives).
But on the biggest question the planet faces, if we'll take action in time to slow down global warming, they couldn't be more different. One, Nasheed, is leading the fight. The other, as we saw recently when he announced that there would be no new treaty anytime soon, is only half in the battle. They both may go to the U.N. sponsored climate conference in Copenhagen next month, but Nasheed will be there to say: Seize the moment. And if Obama makes it, he will be there to spin, to say, no doubt elegantly: Chill.
To understand the difference between the two men is to understand much of the politics of global warming, as well as the chances for an agreement on climate change, this year or next, significant enough to matter.
In Nasheed's case, geography almost requires him to be outspoken. His nation is what you picture when you picture paradise: 1,200 tiny islands, each ringed by a reef with a lagoon, white sand beaches and coconut palms. A small fraction have been turned into tourist resorts, but most are either uninhabited or home to fishing communities that go back thousands of years.
But the highest point on most of those islands is only a few feet above sea level. They can't cope with the rising oceans that every expert says global warming will bring, and they can't cope with the dying corals that come when seawater gets hotter and more acidic. And so, more than any other leader on Earth, Nasheed has made global warming his rallying cry.
BY BILL MCKIBBENTHE LATEST CLIMATE NEWS, FROM IT IS GETTING WARMER
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