Despair, lack of progress at climate talks, yet hope blooms

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — Things can look pretty bleak at international climate talks in Egypt. It’s a desert. Water is scarce outside and inside in buildings. Lines are long. Tempers are short and above all progress comes in one-drop drips. Yet, hope springs forth. It’s in the hearts and minds of climate veterans like Al Gore, the head of the United Nations environment program, the woman who helped forge the Paris agreement and a top climate scientist. Where do these people find hope? In all the people working hard, in the progress made and in the art of taking action.