Bush Wins Bali

Just heard this on the BBC while I was driving to get groceries, though I don't see it on the Web yet: officials in Bali have decided to drop explicit calls for a 25-40% reduction in GHG emissions, although the final report will "reference" documents that call for such reductions.

The United States Bush Administration wins.

The German environmental minister says:

"I think the situation is good ... and we will have success in the end," Sigmar Gabriel told reporters, declining to give details of the talks. "We are sure we are able to reach an agreement."

Right. I know the diplomats feel pressure to call any final document a "success," but this is drastically overreaching. The fact is clearly that by not setting definite emissions targets this conference has been a complete failure.