By Michael A Memoli, Los Angeles Times.

Hoping to salvage a faltering international climate deal, President Obama’s team roamed the halls of a Copenhagen convention center in 2009 “hunting for the Chinese,” as then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently put it.

Securing a commitment – any commitment – from China, the world’s leading emitter of carbon gas, would be key to the face-saving, if disappointing, agreement that emerged.

“A mess,” deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes bluntly labeled the Copenhagen summit.