At the G20 summit in London last week, Barack Obama took time out from fixing the world鈥檚 financial system to promise that the US will 鈥渓ead by example to reduce our carbon footprint鈥�. But back in Washington, DC, Congress was saying, in effect, 鈥渘ot so fast鈥�.
The basis of Obama鈥檚 plan to reduce US emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 is a 鈥渃ap-and-trade鈥� system, in which emitters will be charged for every tonne of CO2 they put into the air. The cash 鈥� tens of billions of dollars of it 鈥� will go into federal funding of 鈥済reen jobs鈥� to revive the US economy with renewable energy like solar and wind power, and a smart grid to get that power to customers.
Last week, legislators in Congress began considering the laws necessary to establish the new cap-and-trade regime, but they immediately hit opposition from Democrats in coal-mining mid-western states who are fearful the measures could undermine their 鈥渂rown jobs鈥�, especially in a recession. That left leading climate analyst Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Climate Change, saying that 鈥渢he odds are [the legislation] will slip to 2010鈥�.
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In London, world leaders said they would leave a deal on a successor to the Kyoto protocol on climate to UN talks that are set to conclude in Copenhagen in December. The big question now is, what Obama will be able to offer the world then? He will remember that 12 years ago, Bill Clinton signed on to the Kyoto protocol, but could never deliver Congressional support for making his promises happen.
