|
US: 17 percent emission pledge to Copenhagen
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-26 07:51
WASHINGTON: The United States will pledge to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020 at a UN climate change meeting in December, the White House said yesterday. Obama's negotiating position for the talks in Copenhagen has been hampered by slow progress on a climate bill in the US Senate. The US House of Representatives passed a bill that sets a 17 percent reduction target for emissions by 2020 from 2005 levels. A Senate version aims for a 20 percent cut. The European Union is pressing for more aggressive cuts and has pledged a 20 percent drop in its emissions compared to 1990 levels. In New Zealand, a revised emissions trading plan passed into law yesterday, opening the way to controlling greenhouse gas emissions from industry, although critics say the plan is too soft on big polluters. The governing minority National Party with the backing of the small Maori Party pushed the legislation through a detailed clause-by-clause examination, without amendments, before it was given final approval. National had been pushing the law's passage ahead of next month's UN climate summit in Copenhagen. The scheme is only the second to pass into law: Europe's began in 2005. New Zealand has set a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by between 10 and 20 percent by 2020 on 1990 levels, depending on the outcome of the UN-sponsored Copenhagen meeting that is meant to settle on the broad outlines of a tougher global climate pact. Reuters
(China Daily 11/26/2009 page12) |
