Countdown to Copenhagen: Is America On-Board?
President Barack Obama’s trip to the U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen beginning December 7 will offer a high-level view for affected industries and other stakeholders eager for signs of where the U.S. will ultimately cap its greenhouse gas emissions, according to noted Pillsbury climate change and sustainability attorneys.
“President Obama’s decision to attend international treaty discussions at the Copenhagen summit creates momentum that may help clarify and possibly even crystallize U.S. policy,” said Pillsbury partner Peter Wyckoff, a noted climate change attorney and former EPA official who has significant experience attending and working on international environmental treaty negotiations. “There are also strong signs that the Obama Administration is working behind the scenes to stimulate progressive announcements by various countries (notably China and India) that could well lead to a breakthrough at the international level, which also could result in a ground swell in Congress, or at least exert a lot of pressure on lawmakers back here at home to enact genuine climate change legislation.”
President Obama will address summit attendees seeking harmony on global emission cuts as Congress vigorously debates numbers for its own climate agreement. In particular, US lawmakers are poring over the feasibility and financial consequences of cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions anywhere from 17 to 20 percent below 2005’s levels by 2020, as different proposed legislation in the House and Senate prescribes.
“Beyond broad themes of support for halting climate change, observers could interpret President Obama’s support for approximate international figures as signs of emerging consensus in Washington. A U.S. decision, taken with Copenhagen’s outcomes, figures to significantly shape U.S. and multinational businesses’ obligations and operations,” added Wyckoff.
Wyckoff, along with other members of Pillsbury’s Climate Change & Sustainability team, are available to offer journalists’ perspective on key areas of negotiation as the Copenhagen summits gets underway.
As governments around the world are moving to re-shape their energy policies, regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and help society adjust to the effects of global warming, Pillsbury offers the wide-ranging legal experience companies need to seize new market opportunities and meet the legal challenges that emerge as climate change policy and legislation evolve. Pillsbury’s Climate Change & Sustainability team takes a multidisciplinary approach to anticipate and respond to our clients’ climate change requirements and policy needs, drawing on attorneys with environmental and energy regulatory, public policy, project & infrastructure finance, and clean tech experience. The team is based in the major policy and industry centers of California, New York, Houston, Washington, DC, London and Shanghai.
Source: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
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