Pariahs

It's not only the Bush administration's Iraq folly and ham-handed, with-us-or-against-us approach to international relations that's isolating us from the rest of the world.

Industrialized and developing nations were close to a breakthrough on Friday on a deal to begin work on extending the Kyoto Protocol to fight global warming past 2012, but the United States resisted calls for new commitments to combat climate change.

On the final day of the November 28-December 9 U.N. conference on climate change, environmentalists said they were losing hope that the United States -- the largest producer of heat-trapping greenhouse gases -- would sign a separate agreement for all nations, not just Kyoto members.

Although the United States is not one of the 157 countries that have subscribed to Kyoto, Canada wants a deal on open-ended talks among all countries about long-term cooperation on climate change.

Delegates said U.S. climate negotiator Harlan Watson walked out of a session of talks overnight, saying host Canada's proposal for dialogue on long-term actions was tantamount to entering negotiations.

"By walking out of the room, this shows just how willing the U.S. administration is to walk away from a healthy planet and its responsibilities," said Jennifer Morgan, climate change expert for environmental group WWF.

Apparently, the U.S. delegation can't generate a lot of enthusiasm for its "pretend it isn't happening" approach to global warming. But it's easy to understand why they're skeptical about global warming, being that they're feeling so little warmth from the rest of the globe.

You get what you give, folks.