U.S. Climate Official Urges Congress To Curb Greenhouse-Gas Emissions

By STEPHEN POWER

WASHINGTON -- The top U.S. negotiator of international climate-change agreements urged Congress to pass legislation curbing greenhouse-gas emissions in advance of an international summit this December, saying it would give other countries "a powerful signal" to cut their own emissions.
"It's been a long time now that countries have been looking to the U.S. to lead," Todd Stern, President Barack Obama's special envoy for climate change, said in response to questions from audience members after a speech at a conference on global warming. Mr. Stern acknowledged that passage of climate-change legislation before December would be "an extremely tall order," but added that "nothing would give a more powerful signal to other countries than to see a significant, major, mandatory plan" from the U.S. before the start of international talks that are intended to forge a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which committed many industrialized nations to cutting their emissions.
A road map agreed to by industrialized countries at a 2007 summit in Bali, Indonesia, suggests that industrialized countries to reduce their emissions by between 25% and 40% by 2020. But Mr. Stern said in his speech that it was "not possible" for the U.S. to cut its emissions as quickly as suggested under the Bali road map. Mr. Stern reiterated Mr. Obama's goal of returning U.S. emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020, adding that the U.S. could compensate with swifter reductions in the years beyond 2020. Mr. Obama's recent budget proposal calls for reducing U.S. emissions roughly 80% by 2050 over 2005 levels.
"We need to be very mindful of what the dictates of science are, and of the art of the possible," Mr. Stern said. Referring to the targets called for in the Bali plan, Mr. Stern added "it's not possible to get that kind of number. It's not going to happen."
Mr. Stern said that Mr. Obama's aides will demand that developing countries agree to "substantial reductions" in their emissions. At the same time, he said the administration is "right in the middle of trying to work through a financing package" that would help those companies pay for the costs of adapting to and mitigating the impact of climate change. Mr. Stern didn't specify how much money the administration thought was necessary, but said that the administration will ask Congress to appropriate "substantial funds" for such an effort.
Mr. Stern's comments are the latest sign of the Obama administration's eagerness to pass legislation this year that would for the first time cap U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions. Prospects for passing such legislation are likely to hinge on the Senate, where Democrats from manufacturing states and rural, coal-rich regions wield enormous influence. Some Democrats have expressed reservations about the scale and speed with which Mr. Obama hopes to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
Neither the U.S. nor developing countries such as China are parties to the Kyoto protocol.
Mr. Stern didn't specify how much of a long-term reduction in global greenhouse-gas emissions the Obama administration thinks that countries should agree to at international talks scheduled for December in Copenhagen. But he indicated it would be unrealistic to expect the U.S. to slash its greenhouse-gas emissions as much over the next decade as some European governments have suggested is possible. He also said that the Obama administration intends to seek "substantial funds" to help developing countries such as China adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change.
European governments have generally favored measuring emissions reductions against the year 1990. Since then, the EU's emissions have fallen slightly, while U.S. emissions have risen about 15%, according to the World Resources Institute, a Washington think tank. One reason for the decrease in Europe's emissions is the collapse of the Soviet empire, which brought about an economic slowdown in Eastern European countries that had relied on heavily polluting, Soviet-sponsored industries.
Write to Stephen Power at stephen.power@wsj.com