Even though we face an increasingly steep uphill battle on the way to Copenhagen, there have been some rays of hope buried amongst recent headlines. For instance, yesterday, the administration initiated efforts to reduce energy use by the nation’s largest consumer: the federal government.

In a similar vein, two weeks ago, the G20 (the ever-expanding group of finance ministers formerly known as the G8, G7, and “The Group of Six“) vowed to phase out fossil fuel subsidies .