In the battle against climate change, sometimes one step forward is followed by two steps back. Even at the dawn of a new administration, the positive efforts of academia will still need to compete with the reticence of those in Washington.

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia announced in April that it had awarded Cornell a $25 million grant to pursue alternative energy research. This was welcome news. These pages have often supported the efforts of the University to foster relationships around the world, and an academic partnership with a Saudi Arabian university is another step towards bolstering Cornell’s international presence and rapport. At the same time, the grant represents a positively significant push towards useful green technologies.

The money awarded by KAUST will largely be used for the development of versatile synthetic materials capable of reducing carbon emissions and advancing solar-powered technologies. The grant exemplifies a trend within academia of more frequent international partnerships that address the problems of energy consumption and global warming. However, while the KAUST, Cornell and the rest of the academic community rally behind sustainability initiatives, political players in Washington continue to volley back and forth on the issue.

Any successful efforts to curb the effects of climate change will depend on a substantial degree of international collaboration. That means transnational partnerships like the one between KAUST and Cornell will be integral in altering man’s impact on the environment. But that isn't enough. As one of the world’s preeminent carbon emitters, America’s commitment to this cause should be a no-brainer.

Even as scientific consensus strengthens, Senate republicans this week proved that climate change legislation will continue to face strong opposition. The nomination of Nancy Sutley ’84 — who is poised to chair the White House Council on Environmental Quality — has been tied up by the minority party in the first of an expected series of moves to obstruct congressional action on the issue. Though Sutley’s confirmation is probably secure, such politics are an unwelcome reminder of the challenges we all face in addressing man’s harmful ecological footprint. We hope the beginning of the Obama administration will mark a change in the government’s approach to global warming.

While the praiseworthy labors of institutions like Cornell and KAUST are crucial to the fight against global warming, their individual efforts alone are insufficient to address the unprecedented scope of the problem. Unless our elected officials decide to lend the full support of the government to this era-defining challenge, any action to reduce the dangerous effects of climate change might be too late. In this case, the Obama administration would be wise to look to the efforts of Cornell and the gift from KAUST in its drive to improve sustainability.