Green Energy Reporter

President Barack Obama will go to the Copenhagen climate summit in December if his presence means that a deal will get done, Reuters reports.

Obama gave an interview on Monday night loaded with qualifiers about whether he will head to Denmark:

If I am confident that all of the countries involved are bargaining in good faith and we are on the brink of a meaningful agreement and my presence will make a difference in tipping us over [the] edge then certainly that’s something I will do.

What’s most exciting about this for those who want Obama to attend, is that he seems to be telegraphing what he wants to hear from summit participants in December.He wants to hear that negotiators have shown up with the best intentions and are this close to getting somewhere if only a great statesman would show up and seal the deal.

Surely, everyone will go to great pains to communicate that message to Obama, and lo… he will appear.

In truth, his presence will only hold a symbolic value and Copenhagen will not provide the breakthrough treaty anyone craves.

Everyone from Al Gore to U.N. climate change chief Yvo de Boer has given up hope that a comprehensive global warming treaty will happen at the summit, which starts on Dec. 7.

But any progress at all could be heralded as a brave new step. And Obama needs a win on the climate change front, especially given that he also acknowledged in Monday’s interview that the senate will not pass a bill before the summit.