Obama and Climate Change and Financial Reality

I found this on Benny Peiser's CCNet list: 
Don't expect the American government of president-elect Barack Obama to spend a fortune combatting climate change, an economist said Saturday at Guelph's annual environmental symposium. "The U.S. government's broke," University of Guelph economic professor Ross McKitrick told an audience of almost 150 attendees at Rozanski Hall. "Don't look for any costly action in the next few years," said McKitrick, a skeptic of man-made global warming.
    --Vik Kirsch, Guelph Mercury, 12 January 2009
Unfortunately, I think this is true. I've never seen an incoming administration with so many expectations on it, going in -- a symptom, I think, of how horrendous the Bush administration has been for this country. Obama is expected to solve the financial crisis, the health care problem, the climate change problem, the social security problem, the Middle East problem, rebuilt American's image in the world, etc. It's simply impossible. And the climate change problem, because it's still seen as something 25-75 yrs in the future, will probably be one of the first issues sacrificed.