Feelings were mixed about the end results of the summit. Gordon Brown described the negotiations as "frustrating” and the Obama administration hailed the meeting as an “important breakthrough.” Most notable among the accord’s successes: A commitment by wealthier countries to provide an annual fund of $100 billion by 2020 to countries who do not have the financial resources to develop their industries. With little to no financial backing, these countries must simultaneously follow ever stricter environmental regulations.
Balancing the needs of developing versus developed nations has been a sticking point at previous climate summits. Developing nations have been hesitant to sign an agreement that may cripple their economic advancement. Industrialized nations, on the other hand, have been disdainful of granting more achievable emissions restrictions to their less developed neighbors.

Eco-Crackpots and New Year’s Resolutions
That’s when a good cause loses its steam with the rest of the general public. You, the sweat-pant-wearing, bon-bon-eating, armchair quarterback of life. Blossoming interest is lost once the passion for something—in this case, the environment—comes across as craziness. It’s just another good message gone bad.
Case in point: A friend of mine sent me a Facebook link to the Organic Consumers Association. In it, a woman called for an organic New Year’s Resolution. She is planning on taking her commitment of an organic lifestyle to the next level. She wants to eat more responsibly and hopes you will, too. Certainly a noble cause and I wasn’t alone in thinking that. A number of people responded positively to the organic challenge.
But for me, that challenge was more than a little bit tainted when one person responded by grand-standing. Where one woman tried to start a grassroots movement and offered others to join her, this crackpot wandered aimlessly from topic to topic: Everything from “It’s all the government’s fault” to a nation-wide increase in pill-popping to the evils of pesticides. Frankly, it was a bizarre and rambling romp through narcissicism.
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