The UN's International Climate Conference is down to its final hours. It's been a dramatic last couple of days. Yesterday saw thousands of activists converge on the conference center to vent their frustration at the slow pace of negotiations. Small groups of protesters clashed with Danish police, who have the unenviable job of providing security for the meeting and more than 110 heads of state from around the world. This will be the largest gathering of world leaders outside of the UN headquarters in New York.

Tens of thousands of observers have descended on Copenhagen, and access to the conference site has been steadily reduced over the last couple of days. Only 300 observers from environmental, business and other NGOs will be permitted to access the conference center on the final two days. This is extremely disappointing to the thousands who have travelled such a long way to be a part of the process.

For the last two days, negotiators have been arguing not over the substance of a potential agreement, but on the process itself. Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Conference, described the lack of progress as "stalled cable car." Well, Yvo declared in the last couple of hours that the cable car is moving again. The process discussions have been resolved, and leaders are now working on the substantive issues. This is good news, but there are still a number of issues that remain to settled.

There is much excitement and expectation around President Obama's visit to Copenhagen. The now famous words of Dr. Martin Luther King describing what he called "the fierce urgency of now," has been adopted over the last couple of days by many world leaders. There is much hope that the President’s visit will help push this process over the finish line, and deliver on the opportunity that exists in this place, at this time.

The Obama administration deserves credit for making an announcement this morning that has helped unstick the "cable car." Secretary Clinton announced at the conference this morning support for the $100 billion financing that would help the developing world adapt to climate change and spur the clean development. This has shown American leadership and willingness to engage substantively in the process. This $100 billion commitment from developed countries will spur private sector investments that will transition the world to a clean energy economy.

The world is watching what will transpire over the final 24 hours of the conference. For those of us that have been working on passage of strong climate legislation in the United States, we know that road to success runs through Copenhagen. An agreement here will send a message to policy makers in the US that the time to act is now. This is about developing a strong economy based on clean technology, creating jobs, and ensuring that the United States is again a leader in the race to develop clean technology. American business is ready, and is looking to policy makers in Copenhagen and Washington to agree to a deal that will make our economy an engine for growth in the 21st century.