U.S., Europe at Odds Over Emissions

By STEPHEN POWER
COPENHAGEN -- The top U.S. climate negotiator brushed back European calls for faster short-term reductions in U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions, saying that by many measures the U.S. already matches or surpasses the European Union in fighting climate change.

Environmental reporter Jeffrey Ball reports from the Copenhagen climate conference where tensions are flaring between developed nations and emerging countries over interpretations of arcane details.
The comments by Todd Stern, at a briefing by reporters, highlight an issue that continues to divide European and U.S. officials nine days into this month's United Nations summit: what baseline to use in measuring progress in cutting emissions.
While U.S. officials prefer to measure emissions cuts against the year 2005, the European Union prefers measuring cuts against the year 1990. A 1990 timeline greatly favors the EU because of economic and political developments since then that have reduced emissions, including the collapse of the Eastern Europe's economy following the break-up of the Soviet Union.
Conversely, a 2005 baseline favors the Obama administration in international talks, partly because it leaves out the entire first term of George W. Bush. Mr. Bush, as president, resisted imposing economy-wide emissions caps on the grounds that it would damage the U.S. economy.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Mr. Stern said the U.S. would not revise its proposed emissions targets, despite calls by some European officials for faster cuts. President Obama has called for cutting U.S. emissions in the range of 17% beneath 2005 levels by 2020, or 3 to 4% beneath 1990 levels by 2020. The EU has offered to cut its emissions 20% beneath 1990 levels by 2020 and by 30% if other developed countries agree to do the same.
"It's only in the hermetically sealed world of global climate change negotiations that measuring your reduction from [a 1990 baseline] … would be treated as sacrosanct," Mr. Stern said. While saying he has the "greatest respect" for EU efforts to reduce its emissions, Mr. Stern said that by several measures -- such as carbon intensity -- the U.S. economy is near or ahead of the EU's in controlling its impact on the climate, and that the U.S. can make up for a relatively slow start with faster reductions in later years.
He added that Mr. Obama's long term goal is an 80% reduction in US emissions beneath 1990 levels by mid century, a reduction that is roughly consistent with what a U.N. scientific panel has said is needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change.
"If you compare our reduction levels against a 2005 level, that's more relevant to what President Obama can do" to cut emissions, he added.
Mr. Stern began his news conference by listing a number of metrics in which the U.S. already matches European efforts to combat climate change, illustrating how long-festering disagreements between countries are complicating the push to forge a global treaty to limit emissions of heat-trapping gases.
At a press conference organized by EU officials on Monday, Jo Leinen, a member of the European Parliament from Germany called on the U.S. and China to set more aggressive targets for controlling their emissions, saying the two countries' offers aren't sufficient to stabilize the climate.
Write to Stephen Power at stephen.power@wsj.com