Nov 29, 2009

Obama to take goal of 17 percent emissions cut to Copenhagen talks

2009 Nov 25

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will attend the U.N. climate summit next month in Denmark, taking with him a target to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020, the White House said Wednesday.

The pledge will not be part of a binding international treaty — the hopes for which have been dashed by the lack of a climate law coming out of Congress — but it will mimic the cuts passed by the House earlier this year. The Senate is still debating climate legislation.

"This provisional target" of 17 percent "is in line with current legislation in both chambers of Congress and demonstrates a significant contribution to a problem that the U.S. has neglected for too long," the White House said in a statement.

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Administration officials don't want to repeat the mistake of the 1997 Kyoto climate accord, when the U.S. agreed to emission reductions but never implemented them because of strong political opposition at home. The U.S. never ratified the Kyoto agreement.

The president will attend the summit on Dec. 9 before heading to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34147586/ns/us_news-environment/

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