I think they were tired and not able to translate some of that into the bottom line, and I think that did freak some of them out. One result was that a pioneering climate deal sealed with handshakes by a few diplomats deep in the night came unglued when numbers lay under the fluorescent glare of the day. Tonight, as he somewhat wistfully recalled that fleeting electric moment when an agreement was at hand, Jan Pronk, the president of the two-week climate meeting, compared it to the American presidential election. People who were intimately involved with that critical moment when the tide turned say it appears that domestic political pressures, exhaustion, an exceptionally tight relationship between the Europeans and environmental groups and simply too much data to sort through in too little time all collided to destroy any environmental detente, at least for now. In his post-game analysis tonight, Mr. Pronk said he lamented that fundamental problem with technical negotiations.
People leave with more questions than they had before.
On other heated issues, resolution seemed closer still. Delegates had fought over whether nuclear plants should be banned or simply not encouraged in a world combatting global warming. The technology produced no greenhouse gases, after all, but came with a load of other environmental concerns. There was a third bloc, the developing countries, that had its own demands, but those seemed achievable if the wealthy nations could speak with one voice, and in the end they could not. Mr. Pronk said tonight he was disappointed, but not devastated.