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Obama CO2 Goal Within Reach if States, Agencies Act, Group Says
2010-07-23 14:12:41.427 GMT
By Simon Lomax
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Federal agencies and state
governments can get the U.S. close to President Barack Obama's
goal for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions after the "apparent
collapse" of congressional efforts to pass new pollution laws,
according to the World Resources Institute.
The agencies and states might achieve a 14 percent cut in
carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 from 2005 levels if they act
with "high ambition," the Washington-based institute said in a
report today. Obama said last year the U.S. should aim for a 17
percent carbon cut by 2020.
"It is possible to make significant reductions using
existing tools," Jonathan Lash, the institute's president, told
reporters in Washington. The carbon cuts depend on regulations
from the Environmental Protection Agency and other parts of the
federal government together with state-level programs such as a
10-state carbon trading program for power plants in the
Northeast, Lash said.
Senate Democrats said yesterday that carbon dioxide cuts
won't be included in energy legislation scheduled for debate
next week. Cap-and-trade legislation, in which companies buy and
sell carbon pollution rights, stalled in the Senate after
narrowly passing the U.S. House last year.
Agency- and state-imposed carbon cuts aren't a substitute
for legislation that would set yearly pollution targets out to
2050, Lash said.
"We need that long-term road map," Lash said.
If the agency and state actions are "lackluster," the
2020 reduction in carbon dioxide emissions could be as little as
6 percent, according to the report.
For Related News and Information:
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Stories about U.S. and climate: TNI US CLIMATE <GO>
Global emissions data: EMIS <GO>
Northeast U.S. trading: RGGI <GO>
--Editors: Charlotte Porter, Richard Stubbe.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Simon Lomax in Washington at +1-202-654-4305 or
slomax@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at +1-212-617-4403 or dstets@bloomberg.net.
