Realistically, it will be impressive if all 191 participating countries are able to agree at COP15 on how the world should split the bill, and I suppose we should be delighted that they're even committing to do that much in December. It's just frustrating to read that the second step, a legally binding treaty, could take a year, or even longer, to negotiate.

Part of the problem is that President Obama has yet to agree to even attend COP15, despite the adorable exhortations of the kids of WWF staffers. Also, the Senate won't be able to pass Climate Change legislation before the conference, and the other major industrialized countries are waiting to see what we commit to in terms of carbon caps before they'll commit.

It's a climate impasse, and that's just the tip of the melting (yes, really, I went there) iceberg.

Other issues include the growing disconnect between wealthy carbon-emitting countries (like us) who don't want to commit to reducing emissions out of fear that it will hurt our floundering economies, and developing nation countries that have low carbon emissions, but are first in line to bear the brunt of climate change like rising ocean levels.

Rather than being a major milestone in addressing the climate change issue, COP15 is running the risk of being yet another in a series of meetings where leaders only talk about action. Let's hope that's not the case.