So Will it Be Cash or Carbon?

According to a new UN report,

"It will cost between $500 billion and $600 billion every year for the next 10 years to allow developing nations to grow using renewable energy resources, instead of relying on dirty fuels that worsen global warming."

Ooph. The estimate is significantly higher than what anyone was expecting, and no country (perhaps excluding China) currently has the bucks to pay this type of tab. It's tough to imagine the U.S. or Europe selling this to their respective populations with job losses racking up month after month.

The solution? Richard Haass, Moises Naim, and Kemal Dervis seem to all be in relative agreement: at the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December, a treaty that places limits on carbon emissions for all countries is much less likely than an agreement between some major carbon emitters and some major powers to curb their own carbon emissions. A small something is better than nothing; I mean, that's a good place to start. Right or wrong?

(AP Photos)