US to vow greenhouse emission cuts in Denmark

The United States unveiled its proposal to cut greenhouse gases by 2020 on Wednesday and said President Barack Obama will attend UN climate talks in Copenhagen next month - before other world leaders show up.

Obama will go to the Dec. 7-18 talks in Denmark on Dec. 9, the eve of a ceremony in nearby Oslo, Norway, where he will collect the Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said.

He is not scheduled to return, however, for the final days when most of the hard bargaining is likely and dozens of other leaders are slated to attend.

The White House said the United States will pledge in Copenhagen to cut its greenhouse gas emissions roughly 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, a drop of about 3 percent below the 1990 benchmark year used in U.N. treaties.

That figure is in line with legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives but is less ambitious than a 20 percent reduction sought in a Senate version that has been delayed.

U.S. negotiators consulted with lawmakers before arriving at the proposed figure and said it would be flexible based on the outcome of final domestic legislation.

Senate support will be required to ratify any treaty that comes out of Copenhagen or follow-up meetings, so U.S. envoys are eager for backing from lawmakers.
The United States is the last major industrialized country to offer a target for cutting greenhouse gases in a U.N.-led drive to slow rising world temperatures that could bring more heat-waves, expanding deserts, floods and rising sea levels.