President Obama to Attend Copenhagen Climate Talks

The White House announced that President Obama will travel to Copenhagen on December 9th to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

The goal of the Conference is to produce a blueprint for a legally binding international treaty that would replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012 and govern individual countries' greenhouse gas emissions. 192 countries are planning to meet in Copenhagen.

Pre-Conference talks had been stalled, but the U. S. and China set climate-related goals when the President visited China last week. Their talks have revitalized the hope that meaningful objectives can be achieved in Copenhagen. Nevertheless, there are still many unresolved issues. The targets set by the U.S. and China are lower than what other countries have requested. Negotiators are also working out how industrialized countries such as the U.S. will help ease the economic burden of environmental initiatives for poorer countries. Furthermore, different countries have different definitions of what constitutes progress on climate issues – and therefore it is hard to compare plans.

In the context of an overall deal in Copenhagen that includes contributions from China and the other emerging economies, the President is prepared to propose U.S. emissions reduction target in the range of 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. But his proposal must be in line with final versions of pending U.S. energy and climate legislation.

In light of the President’s goal to reduce emissions 83% by 2050, the expected pathway set forth in this pending legislation would entail a 30% reduction below 2005 levels in 2025 and a 42% reduction below 2005 in 2030.  This provisional target aligns 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 also announced that a host of Cabinet secretaries and other top officials from across the Administration will travel to Copenhagen for the conference. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson are all scheduled to attend, along with Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, and Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner.

U.S. delegates will keynote a series of events highlighting actions taken by the Obama Administration to provide domestic and global leadership in the transition to a clean energy economy. Topics will range from energy efficiency investments and global commitments to renewables policy and clean energy jobs.

Administration officials will highlight President Obama’s accomplishments of the last 10 months – including auto emissions standards, appliance efficiency standards, and myriad energy- and environment-related projects that are funded under the Recovery Act. They will also discuss this summer’s passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act in the House of Representatives.