By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

It's encouraging that Barack Obama is not a do-nothing president like George W. Bush when it comes to climate change.

But Obama's rhetoric Thursday on the issue at the G-8 Summit was a little shaky, even empty in some ways.

For example, Obama praised himself and Congress for agreeing to move forward on an effort to reduce harmful emissions that are warming the globe.

True, Obama and the Democratic-controlled House did pass a climate-change bill that makes an effort to drastically reduce those emissions.

However, the measure is bloated with special-interest favors for all kinds of industries in the U.S., and for farmers intent on the questionable effort to flood the market with subsidized ethanol.

And -- as Obama knows full well -- the U.S. Senate will not pass the measure in its present form. It's only going to get worse as the more conservative Senate whittles away at the environmentally friendly aspects of the House-passed bill.

Obama also said Thursday, "It is no small task for 17 (world) leaders to bridge their differences on an issue like climate change."

Again, while that statement is true, the pledges made by the U.S. and 16 other nations will take years to implement. They won't create the expected benefits in sharply lower emissions for several decades to come.

Finally, Obama conceded that "developed countries like my own have a historic responsibility to take the lead."

Agreed. And yet, under not just George W. Bush but also former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, the United States did far too little to advance the fight against global warming.

Other nations can be excused for feeling that the late-to-the-party Americans still have to prove they are serious about their involvement in battling climate change.