“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us…that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”. 

51,000 casualties. 278 words. Abraham Lincoln, speaking in 1863 on a battlefield in the American Civil War, pledged to fight to the end for the abolition of slavery

Now, contemporary US citizens have an opportunity to join a battle their government has avoided, starting with The People’s Ratification of the Kyoto Treaty.   253 words.

Will it go far?   Ross Gelbspan has hopes.

But, in Operation Squander, Amanda Griscom Little warns that environmental groups have missed an important opportunity on the coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol:

“If the launch of Kyoto, a major milestone in the battle against the world's biggest environmental problem, can't provoke a major response from the U.S. green community, what can?"

openDemocracy will debate the politics of climate change – its failures, its discontents and its opportunities – from April to June 2005, ahead of the G8 Summit.