The U.N. wants to create a new agreement to take the place of the Kyoto Protocol and get the participation of the U.S. and emerging nations including India, Brazil and China.

Outside of nuclear weapons, how to jointly address climate change will likely become the most contentious issue in international politics during the next few years. Because what the amount of carbon, mercury and other pollutants emitted by China and India affect us greatly today and will have even greater impact as their economies grow, the U.S. needs to join the international conversation.

We can't point fingers at the emissions from countries that are manufacturing goods for the world's consumption as their path out of poverty. If China did as we did in per capita emissions, greenhouse gas emissions would grow exponentially. Cooperation in using the best technologies to limit emissions from coal power plants and petroleum engines is even more important in India and China that have populations several times that of the U.S.

Brazil is already showing more interest in addressing climate change, and we need to work together in sharing technology since we benefit from protecting the rain forests there. Climate change and energy could bring the world together or drive nations into to conflict, depending on our abilities to negotiate.