Copenhagen deal could ease US climate laws, Kerry says

Dec 16, 2009, 15:39 GMT

Copenhagen - A United Nations deal on fighting climate change could make it easier for the United States to pass legislation countering global warming next year, US Senator John Kerry said in Copenhagen on Wednesday.

The US is one of the key power brokers in the UN talks, but its room for manoeuvre has been limited by its failure to pass a crucial climate-change bill before the Copenhagen conference.

'With a successful deal here in Copenhagen, next year, the US Congress - House and Senate - will pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation that will reduce America's emissions,' Kerry, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said.

The US Senate is currently debating legislation aimed at cutting the country's greenhouse-gas emissions, but the bill is facing stiff resistance.

Initially, diplomats had hoped the Senate would be able to pass the legislation before the Copenhagen talks, so that US President Barack Obama would be able to make binding commitments there.

But the delay in passing the bill defeated that hope, with no legally-binding US climate targets expected before the spring.

'Let me say to all of you wondering about whether we will pass something: the naysayers predicting defeat are wrong,' Kerry said.

The draft laws foresee a cut in greenhouse-gas emissions of 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020, with further, deeper cuts spreading until 2030.

Other developed and developing nations have criticized the 2020 goal as too weak to deliver the emissions reductions needed to stop catastrophic global warming.