The White House announced Wednesday that President Barack Obama will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, on December 9 to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
While at the conference, the White House said, Obama will propose a U.S. emissions reduction target in the range of 17% below 2005 levels in 2020 and ultimately in line with final U.S. energy and climate legislation.
In light of Obama's goal to reduce emissions 83% by 2050, the White House said the legislation would entail a 30% reduction below 2005 levels in 2025 and a 42% reduction below 2005 in 2030.
In addition, the White House said that other Obama administration officials would be attending the conference, including Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson.
Further, Obama and other administration officials intend to show the contributions the U.S. has made to combat climate change, including $80 billion invested in clean energy through the Recovery Act.
However, Senator James Inhofe, R-Ok., Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, was less-than-enthusiastic about Obama's planned trip.
"I suspect President Obama is making the trip to Copenhagen in order to 'save' the climate conference," Inhofe said. "No amount of lofty rhetoric or promises of future commitments can save it."
He added, "This is due in large part to the fact cap-and-trade legislation in the Senate is dying on the vine."
He also argued that China and India, along with the rest of the developing world, would not so easily accept cuts in emissions. These developing countries, Inhofe said, will contribute the most to greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years.
Senator John Kerry, D-Mass., on the other hand, had a more optimistic outlook on Obama's trip, saying the conference could be "one hell of a global game changer with big reverberations here at home."
"For the first time," Kerry said, "an American administration has proposed an emissions reduction target and when President Obama lands in Copenhagen it will emphasize that the United States is in it to win it."
He said the fact that Obama will be attending the conference shows the administration is "putting its money where its mouth is" in terms of pushing towards fighting climate change.
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