Paris Conference Supports CBDRILONCWRC | The Weekly Standard

The Paris Climate Conference closes on Friday. All the set pieces of the expected drama have played out: an Obama speech, hand-wringing by Western Europe, pleas of poverty by China and India, and a draft agreement coming in just before the deadline closes.

And the acronyms. Oh, the acronyms.

The United States, according to official documents, supports CBDRILONCWRC. That's only somewhat shorter than the full phrase: Common But Differentiated Responsibility In Light Of National Circumstances With Respective Capability.

Or, to translate from bureaucrat-speak: All countries share responsibility for dealing with supposed climate change according to their unique circumstances and economic strengths.

Mother Jones calls it "the acronym that just might save the world." That might be a bit of an overstatement. But a word that's twelve letters long and completely unpronounceable—what a fitting metaphor for the entire top-down climate change conference.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/paris-conference-supports-cbdriloncwrc/article/2000206/