WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will attend
international climate negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark, next month and is
promising sizable reductions of U.S. carbon emissions, the White House
announced Wednesday, breathing new life into hopes for a global agreement on
heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
The United States will reduce its emissions of the gases
scientists blame for global warming “in the range of” 17 percent
below 2005 levels by 2020, administration officials said, giving the world the
clearest blueprint yet of U.S. strategies to cut back.
The U.S. pledge and Obama’s plans to attend the meeting
buoyed environmentalists and world leaders, adding crucial impetus to a
gathering that many worried was headed toward failure.
Other countries were awaiting action by the United States,
historically the world’s largest carbon emitter, before taking steps of their
own.
The president will address negotiators Dec. 9, just after
the opening of the two-week summit, and on his way to receive the Nobel Peace
Prize in Oslo, Norway. His speech will come ahead of planned visits by
prominent heads of state from Europe and around the world.
The 17 percent reduction range is in line with a climate
bill that passed the House in June and is pending in the Senate, but well below
what many scientists, along with political leaders in Europe and developing
countries, say is needed from the United States to avert the most catastrophic
effects of climate change worldwide.
Carol Browner, Obama’s assistant for energy and climate,
said the administration hopes the announcements will lead other nations
“to put forth ambitious actions of their own.”
Yvo de Boer, the United Nations’ climate chief, called
Obama’s attendance and a concrete reduction target from the United States
“critical” to the talks.
