ABSTRACT
Embracing the twin goals of health care reform and climate change legislation in 2008, Barack Obama declared "We will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick", and the moment "When the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal". So when he won the presidency, hopes were high that Obama would lead a legislative effort on climate legislation, and all the more so for having declared it a priority on grounds of national security. If people begin with nation states as the players it makes no sense to ask about how they see their interests except in a metaphorical sense. With Graham's ultimatum in place, the route to save the climate bill went through the White House which was asked to pressure Reid into withdrawing the immigration legislation.
