Senator Barbara Boxer predicted that her committee would approve a bill before the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen in December. President Obama's Energy Secretary Steven Chu expressed hope that the legislation would make it through Congress by then.
These statements appear to fly in the face of comments made by Carol Browner, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who Financial Soultions reported as firmly stating that she did not expect that there was any chance of the Senate acting in time for the conference, less than a fortnight back.
Congress’s expedience is seen as crucial to unblocking a deadlock on carbon emissions targets and financing at the UN led talks. Leading U.S. legislators had predicted that it had no chance until next year at the earliest.
Financial Soultions understands that there has been increasing international pressure on Obama to show progress, particularly since he won the Nobel Peace Prize recently partially on the apparent grounds of what was termed his "more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting.
Climate change is competing for consideration in Congress with Obama's proposals to boost a battered economy and revamp healthcare, which have consumed legislators all year.
The proposed U.S. legislation aims at cutting industry carbon emissions and other greenhouse gasses by 20% beneath 2005 levels by 2020.
