Obama Expected to Launch Major Initiatives on Climate and Energy

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to move swiftly to join international climate talks and to make the development of a renewable energy economy one of the key aspects of his $175 billion economic stimulus package. Reversing the climate and energy policies of the Bush administration, Obama says he will send his own representatives to UN climate talks in Poland in three weeks and once inaugurated will set the U.S. on a path to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and further slash them by 80 percent by 2050. Obama — who vows to create 5 million “green jobs” in the renewable energy sector — supports a cap-and-trade system that auctions carbon permits to major carbon point sources such as power plants and refineries, though it is unclear, given the current economic crisis, how swiftly he will move on that front. Reaction to his election among environmental groups worldwide was euphoric, with conservation leaders predicting that he would place the U.S. at the center of international efforts to slow global warming.