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CLIMATE SCIENCE
US and China announce 'historic' climate accord
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Nov 12, 2014


Republicans to Obama: not so fast on climate action
Washington (AFP) Nov 12, 2014 - US Republicans conveyed their full-throated disapproval of President Barack Obama's deal with China Wednesday to curb greenhouse gas emissions, signalling a war over climate change in the coming Congress.

Obama, who inked the landmark agreement with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, infuriated newly-empowered Republicans who say they are fed up with the president circumventing Congress by issuing executive orders on controversial issues.

House Speaker John Boehner charged that Obama was waging a "crusade" against affordable energy.

"This announcement is yet another sign that the president intends to double down on his job-crushing policies no matter how devastating the impact for America's heartland and the country as a whole," Boehner said.

"It is the latest example of the president's crusade against affordable, reliable energy that is already hurting jobs and squeezing middle-class families."

Boehner was joined by the Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who said he was "particularly distressed" by the deal, which has been widely seen as a breakthrough in cooperation on climate change between the two world powers.

"I read the agreement requires the Chinese to do nothing at all for 16 years while these carbon emission regulations are creating havoc in my state and other states around the country," said McConnell, who is from the coal-rich state of Kentucky.

The reactions formed the leading edge of a coming battle over climate change in the US Congress, where Republicans will assume control of both chambers January 3, having emerged on top in last week's midterm elections.

Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hailed the US-China pact as one that could "spur other countries" to join in the climate change fight.

"The historic announcement ... is exactly what is needed to ensure that America's efforts to clean up our energy supply are replicated around the world," Reid said.

- Congressional climate battle looms -

But back home, a monster fight lies ahead.

Boehner noted that the House of Representatives has passed several bills to "rein in" Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on carbon emissions and other energy issues.

The legislation stalled in the Democratic-held Senate, but with Republicans taking over, energy legislation may be reaching Obama's desk next year.

McConnell, asked whether he will move to rein in EPA rules on emissions, told reporters "we'll be discussing all that with our colleagues here in the next few days before we get ready to take over the new majority."

Joining the new Senate will be Iowa's Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican who has called for the EPA's elimination, arguing that states are better stewards of national resources than federal officials.

The current chair of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, Barbara Boxer, noted that with the world's biggest polluter China committing to the greenhouse gas fight, "there is no longer an excuse for Congress to block action on climate change."

But Boxer will lose her chairmanship to a Republican, most likely Senator James Inhofe, seen by many as the leading climate change skeptic in Congress.

Inhofe, who has declared man-made global warming a "hoax," is sure to attempt to eviscerate Obama's proposed EPA regulations on power plant emissions.

On Wednesday, he dismissed the US-China deal as "a non-binding charade" that requires Washington to make steep reductions in carbon emissions "while China won't have to reduce anything."

"The American people spoke against the president's climate policies in this last election," Inhofe said, attacking what he described as "overbearing EPA mandates."

The United States and China on Wednesday announced ambitious targets on greenhouse gas emissions as part of a "historic" pact that climate scientists acclaimed but US Republicans denounced as a job-killer.

At a Beijing summit, the leaders of the world's two biggest polluters put their stamp on attempts to breathe new life into action against global warming ahead of international talks in Paris next year.

US President Barack Obama said the joint announcement on the two countries' emissions targets was a "historic agreement" and a "major milestone in the US-China relationship".

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the two had "agreed to make sure that international climate change negotiations will reach an agreement in Paris".

Attempts to deal with climate change, which scientists warn is approaching a potentially catastrophic point of no return, have long been stymied by the unwillingness of the United States and China to work together on the problem.

But China set a target for its greenhouse gas output to peak "around 2030", which Obama commended as a commitment to "slow, peak and reverse the course" of its emissions.

And Obama, who faces scepticism as well as outright denial about climate change in the US Congress, set a goal for the United States to cut its own emissions of greenhouse gases by 26-28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.

"We have a special responsibility to lead the worldwide effort against climate change," Obama said at a joint news conference with Xi.

- 'A new day' -

China and the US, which together produce around 45 percent of the world's carbon dioxide, will be key to ensuring a global deal on reducing emissions after 2020 is reached next year.

The two countries have long been at loggerheads over global targets, with each saying the other should bear more responsibility for cutting emissions of gases blamed for heating up the atmosphere.

But after the 2009 Copenhagen Summit nearly ended in fiasco, salvaged only by a last-minute deal brokered by Obama and China's then premier, Washington and Beijing have started to move closer towards agreement.

Christiana Figueres, head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) organising the Paris negotiations, welcomed the announcement as providing "both practical and political momentum".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the announcement provided "ambitious" models for other nations to follow.

The International Energy Agency branded the deal "a giant leap for mankind".

Environmental advocates also hailed it as a "breakthrough", with the US-based World Resources Institute president Andrew Steer saying: "It's a new day to have the leaders of the US and China stand shoulder-to-shoulder and make significant commitments to curb their countries' emissions."

But while it was the first time China agreed to an approximate target date for emissions to peak -- officials have previously only spoken of doing so "as soon as possible" -- the commitment was qualified, leaving considerable room for manoeuvre.

China has trumpeted its efforts to reduce dependence on coal and oil in the past, and is the world's largest hydropower producer, with a growing nuclear sector.

But economic growth remains a vital priority and has seen demand for energy soar, with coal use a significant source of Beijing's notorious pollution.

- Opposition in Congress -

Much of Obama's action on climate change meanwhile has been carried out with executive orders rather than cooperation from an often confrontational legislature.

The deadline for Obama's new pledge is in more than a decade's time, but he only has two years left in his presidency. He faces a Congress now set to be controlled by opposition Republicans in both houses after this month's mid-term elections, making passing environmental legislation even more difficult.

In an early portent of the battles to come, the US Senate's new Republican leader was quick to slam Obama's proposed greenhouse gas reductions.

"This unrealistic plan, that the president would dump on his successor, would ensure higher utility rates and far fewer jobs," Senator Mitch McConnell said.

This year is the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Washington and the People's Republic, and the joint announcement was a rare moment of common purpose from the leaders of the world's two largest economies, which regularly clash on issues from trade to rights and are increasingly seen as competing on the world stage.

But Xi said: "The Pacific Ocean is broad enough to accommodate the development of both China and the United States", while Obama responded that a "strong, cooperative relationship" with China was "at the heart of our pivot to Asia".

The European Union pledged last month to reduce emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels.

The EU accounts for 11 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, compared to 16 percent for the United States and 29 percent for China.


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