Obama aides insist the United States is making strides as the biggest development donor in the world. Obama’s decision not to go to Rio, they add, shouldn’t be seen as a snub…

All that history explains Obama’s less-than-gushing endorsements from the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, Environment America and Clean Water Action.

“Elections are about choices, and this choice was clear and simple both because President Obama understands why we need to take action and just as important, a President Romney would be the first climate denier president in our nation’s history,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski…

While greens don’t want to return to the defensive posture they were perpetually in during the Bush administration, they are also left to wonder what they could expect in a second Obama term. Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline — arguably their biggest victory in recent months — only came after an all-out lobbying campaign that included hundreds of arrests outside the White House.