U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a gathering of the world’s leading greenhouse gas emitters that the U.S. is “fully engaged and ready to lead” at global warming talks this December in Copenhagen. Speaking before the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in Washington, Clinton told delegates from the European Union, China, India, Japan, Russia, and other nations that “the president and his entire administration are committed to addressing this issue and we will act.” While acknowledging that the U.S. and other industrialized nations have been responsible for most of the planet’s man-made greenhouse gas emissions, she said she hoped that developing countries would agree to some limits on their emissions and work to elevate their peoples’ living standards without relying as heavily on fossil fuels. Clinton said that recent actions by the U.S. government — including a ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency that greenhouse gases can be regulated under the Clean Air Act — are a “decisive break with past policy.” Referring to the lack of action on climate change by the Bush administration, Clinton said, “The United States is no longer absent without leave.”
U.S. Will Lead on Warming, Clinton Tells Forum of Top CO2 Emitters
More From E360
-
Energy
Why U.S. Geothermal May Advance, Despite Political Headwinds
-
Food & Agriculture
In War Zones, a Race to Save Key Seeds Needed to Feed the World
-
Climate
Lightning Strikes the Arctic: What Will It Mean for the Far North?
-
RIVERS
A Win for Farmers and Tribes Brings New Hope to the Klamath
-
Solutions
Deconstructing Buildings: The Quest for New Life for Old Wood
-
NATURAL DEFENSES
How Restored Wetlands Can Protect Europe from Russian Invasion
-
Solutions
Birds vs. Wind Turbines: New Research Aims to Prevent Deaths
-
FORESTS
Cambodian Forest Defenders at Risk for Exposing Illegal Logging
-
OPINION
The ‘Green’ Aviation Fuel That Would Increase Carbon Emissions
-
CONSERVATION
Out of the Wild: How A.I. Is Transforming Conservation Science
-
Energy
China’s Mega Dam Project Poses Big Risks for Asia’s Grand Canyon
-
Solutions
How Natural Solutions Can Help Islands Survive Sea Level Rise