Green Labor Journal - Working for a Substainable Future

Obama to Attend Climate Change Summit

China-United States global warming "hot war" defused

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Obama to Attend Climate Change Summit
By Jerry Brown
China ─ United States global warming “hot war” defused

President Obama announced a U.S. emissions reduction target for 2020 “in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels,” just weeks before the Dec. 7 start of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec 7-18, 2009.

Obama’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals reflect the climate change cap-and-trade legislation currently before the U.S. Congress.  In June, the House passed the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy & Security Act.  In September, Senate Democrats introduced legislation offering a more aggressive 20 percent GHG reduction target.  (See Green Labor Journal, “Senate Debates Climate Bill,” Oct. 30, 2009).

Global Game Changer
The White House said that the 2020 goals are proposed, subject to congressional approval, “in the context of an overall deal in Copenhagen that includes robust mitigation contributions from China and other emerging economies.”

President Obama also announced that, along with other world leaders, he will attend the international summit on climate change in Copenhagen on December 18, marking the first visit to the annual U.N. conference by a sitting U.S. president since 1992.

“This could be one hell of a global game changer with big reverberations here at home,” said Senator John Kerry (D-MA), co-author with Barbara Boxer (D-CA) of the senate climate bill.

“It lays the groundwork for a broad political consensus at Copenhagen that will strip climate obstructionists here at home of their most persistent charge, that the United States shouldn’t act if other countries won’t join us,” Kerry added.

The President acknowledged that no formal treaty will be reached in Copenhagen, but plans to push for a new, legally binding international treaty that can be completed by December 2010.

“Hot War” Defused
Only a day after Obama’s declaration of “hard targets,” the Chinese government publicly agreed to slow the growth of its GHG emissions by 2020.

This is a remarkable step by China for several reasons.  First, this is the only time, since the Kyoto Protocol was first negotiated in 1997, that China has become an active participant in climate change discussions.  Second, with its huge population and high economic growth rates, China surpassed the U.S. in 2006 as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

In 2006, China accounted for 21.5% of world annual carbon dioxide emissions and the U.S. for 20.2%.  Together, the top ten countries ─ China, U.S., EU, Russia, Indian, Japan, Germany, U.K., Canada and South Korea ─ emit 67.2% of global emissions:

However, instead of setting an absolute GHG reduction goal, the Chinese government proposed by 2020 to reduce their country’s “carbon intensity” – the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of economic output – by 40 to 45 percent compared to 2005 levels.

While a vigorous debate is already under way over the value of reducing “carbon intensity,” most experts agree that this initiative will surely reduce the rate of China’s carbon growth.

In any case, by simultaneously announcing “mutually assured reductions” in the megatons of GHG emissions, the U.S. and China have taken a major step in defusing the “hot war” over climate change that had been heating up in the months preceding Copenhagen.  This climate change “hot war” has been accompanied by threats of tariffs and trade barriers against the nation that did not agree to cap emissions.

Despite these positive actions by the U.S. and China, “This is going to be one of the most complex diplomatic negotiations in the history of the world,” said Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), co-sponsor of the House energy bill.

The Dec. 7 – 18 negotiations in Copenhagen will determine if a meaningful international treaty will be in place when Kyoto expires in 2012 ─ and will certainly impact the U.S. congressional debate on climate change legislation.  In addition, a strong climate agreement could provide additional incentives for growing green energy technologies.

[Editor’s Note: Given the importance of climate change legislation to American workers, the U.S. economy, and the future of the planet, the Green Labor Journal will continue to monitor and report on the congressional and international debate on this issue.  For a labor perspective on climate change legislation, see our feature article, “Leo Gerard on the Blue Green Alliance.]