Obama must bring Climate Day energy to bear on U.S. Senate, says EDF

New York, NY —“World leaders and President Obama showed an unprecedented commitment to global efforts to stop climate change at today’s U.N. summit,” said EDF’s international counsel Annie Petsonk, in New York.

“What we really need to see now is President Obama bringing that commitment to bear on the Senate climate debate and putting the full power of the White House behind this key domestic and international priority,” she said.

“World leaders are looking to President Obama to signal it’s a top priority to guide the U.S. Congress to place a strong cap on U.S. emissions. Some hoped he would have said more about that in his speech today. But what matters is that he brings today’s energy back to Washington and delivers something concrete,” said Ms. Petsonk.

“The key is to cap emissions — because it’s the cap that drives innovation and guarantees emissions go down.”

“World leaders understand it’s not easy to move bills through the U.S. Congress, but the take-home message from today is they’re not going to wait to start crafting new global rules. China is upping the game,” said Petsonk.

Dan Dudek, EDF’s Chief Economist and head of its China office, said: “President Hu has refreshingly come to New York with new commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from China and to aid those nations most in need.”

“These announcements should sweep away the canard that China is not willing to reduce emissions. Is it enough to make Copenhagen a success? That will depend on whether President Hu’s new climate initiatives propel President Obama into action,” he said.

“2020 is an important milestone since it marks the beginning of the period in which scientists tell us global emissions must begin to peak if we are to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

“In this sense, a significant reduction in China’s emissions would contribute mightily to turning global emissions from growth to decline. Accomplishing this will require new policies, new infrastructure, new energy and new innovations in China,” said Mr. Dudek.

Andrea Welsh / 202-572-3230 / awelsh@edf.org