WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States will decide on emission reduction goals if other big greenhouse gas emitters do likewise, the Washington Post reports. The targets are included in a larger attempt to come to a climate agreement by the time international begin in Copenhagen on December 7.
“There will be a submission that takes cognizance of where we are in the legislative process,” a senior administration official said. The emission goals would be dependent on Congress passing climate change legislation.
“The U.S. cannot negotiate at Copenhagen above the targets in domestic legislation without risking support for that legislation in the Senate,” said Paul Bledsoe, spokesman for the National Commission on Energy Policy. “If the [European Union] demands continue above the U.S. domestic targets, they set up an impossible dynamic for the administration.”
President Barack Obama has not yet announced whether he will attend the talks in Copenhagen. “The president has always said if it looks as though negotiations have proceeded sufficiently that going to Copenhagen would give a final impetus or push to the process, that he would be willing to go,” said the senior official who was not identified by the Post. Currently Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have indicated they will attend the talks.
Earlier this year, the House approved a bill with a 17 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2020, with an 80 percent drop by 2050. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee agreed on a 20 percent cut by 2020, but that number will likely fall as the entire Senate debates the bill.