The Flip-Flop

It’s been a long time coming but the International Community in Bali finally humiliated the United States delegation to the Climate conference into an agreement. The reluctant US team fought the agreement for days before capitulating in what was referred to as a flip-flop of never before seen proportions as reported by Yahoo News:

In a day of drama and emotional speeches, nations had berated and booed the U.S. representatives for holding out. A wave of relief swept the room when the United States relented.

Having fought any and every agreement on climate change since the US pulled out of the Kyoto agreement 10 years ago the US delegation took an unprecedented pounding from the committee members of the other nations. Bereft of its usual allies the US stood alone in trying to reject the wording for the agreement which some countries still referred to as too weak and finally, had to cave in as reported by Time Magazine:

In the end, the U.S.'s total isolation was too much for even it to bear. "We've listened very closely to many of our colleagues here during these two weeks, but especially to what has been said in this hall today," said lead American negotiator Paula Dobiansky. "We will go forward and join consensus." Boos turned to cheers, and the deal was essentially sealed.