Obama's climate policy insufficient with hurdles from Congress

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama will attend the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen later this week. However, despite his administration's efforts to readjust U.S. policy on the issue, what Obama has promised to do fell far short of the expectation of the international community.

INSUFFICIENT PROGRESS

How the United States, the world biggest economy with the highest per capita carbon dioxide emissions, responds to climate change has a direct bearing on the international community's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Unlike his predecessor George W. Bush, whose climate policy has been under wide criticism, Obama poured billions of dollars in economic stimulus plan to developing cleaner sources of energy. The administration is drafting the first greenhouse gas standards for automobiles and poised to start regulating under existing law the heat-trapping pollution discharged by power plants and other large industrial facilities.

The White House also announced the United States will offer a 17-percent reduction target of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 from 2005 levels at the Copenhagen conference. Obama's commitment to the target would reverse long-standing U.S. opposition to mandatory emission cuts during eight years of the Bush administration.

Although the Obama administration has expressed greater readiness to tackle global warming than his predecessor, it has failed so far to do enough to deliver its commitment.

In addition, it failed to give a definite amount in assistance to help developing countries cope with climate change, but chose to attach strings on its low carbon technological transfer to these countries.

Obama's 17-percent target is less than 4 percent emissions cut below 1990 levels, much lower than the 40 percent cut from 1990 levels by 2020 demanded by developing countries.

In fact, the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions continued to grow even though the country has long completed its industrialization. According to statistics from UNFCCC, the U.S. emissions grew by 16percent from 1990 through 2005.