The President returned to Copenhagen, this time to address the United Nations Summit on Climate Change. His speech was not well received. From the UK Guardian:

In his address, Obama did say America would follow through on his administration's clean energy agenda, and that it would live up to its pledges to the international community.

"We have charted our course, we have made our commitments, and we will do what we say," Obama said.

But in the absence of any evidence of that commitment the words rang hollow and there was a palpable sense of disappointment in the audience.

Instead, he warned African states and low island nations who have been resisting what they see as a weak agreement that the later alternative -- no agreement -- was far worse.

"We know the fault lines because we've been imprisoned by them for years. But here is the bottom line: we can embrace this accord, take a substantial step forward, and continue to refine it and build upon its foundation," he said.

"Or we can again choose delay, falling back into the same divisions that have stood in the way of action for years. And we will be back having the same stale arguments month after month, year after year - all while the danger of climate change grows until it is irreversible."

He also took a dig at China, drawing attention to its status as the world's biggest emitter and reinforcing America's hardline on the issue of accountability for greenhouse gas emissions.

The lacklustre speech proved a huge frustration to a summit that had been looking to Obama to use his stature on the world stage - and his special following among African leaders - to try to come to an ambitious deal.

Here's some other reaction. From Friends of the Earth:

Friends of the Earth U.S. President Erich Pica had the following response to President Obama's speech:

"President Obama's rhetoric is empty. The U.S. has failed to significantly improve upon the weak position it brought to these talks.

"This speech appears to be more of a face-saving exercise for President Obama than an attempt to unite countries around a truly planet-saving agreement.

"The United States came to these negotiations with a weak position, and now appears to be attempting to take the rest of the world down to our level. It simply must do better."

From the World Wildlife Fund:

"In coming to Copenhagen at the critical final stage of this two-year process, President Obama outlined the building blocks of a deal and expressed his conviction that work still needs to be done.  He has put an emissions target on the table and pledged his commitment to long-term climate financing - both critical pieces of a final deal.

"But that's not enough to knit together the world community at this pivotal hour. As the President has said numerous times, all countries need to stand behind their commitments and agree to make those commitments transparent.

"That applies to the US as well.  The only way the world can be sure the US is standing behind its commitments is for the President to clearly state that climate change will be his next top legislative priority. The ultimate test of his leadership will be engaging the Senate and delivering action in Congress early next year.

"The world's future hangs in the balance.  At this critical hour, the `fierce urgency of now,' of which Dr. King spoke so about eloquently, is ringing loudly."

If I find other press releases, positive or negative, I'll post them.

Via Jamie Henn of Common Dreams, the response of Bill McKibbon of the 350 Global Initiative:

"In the face of leaked UN documents showing that this agreement is a sham, we were hoping for some movement from the President. Instead, his response was take it or leave it. 100 other nations are not making reasonable demands because they want to make the President's life harder. It's because they would like their countries to actually survive the century."

The text of the President's speech is below the fold.

There's more...