COVERITLIVE.COM

12:19

Fred Barbash - moderator - We are getting ready to start the chat...please stay tuned.

12:30

Fred Barbash-Moderator - Welcome everyone.

President Obama has made energy and climate policy top priorities for his administration as expectations for U.S. leadership in ongoing international climate negotiations run high. As the Senate moves to consider the narrowly passed House climate and energy measure, the economic effects of the cap-and-trade legislation remain in dispute and could be a significant hurdle to passage.

Brookings Managing Director William Antholis, who served at the National Security Council during the Kyoto Protocol negotiations will take questions on the domestic and international implications of climate change and the outlook for international cooperation on addressing global warming in this edition of the Scouting Report.

Welcome Bill

Let's get started.

12:31

[Comment From Jason]
Advocates for action on climate change had high hopes when Obama came into office, but I think those hopes may be fading. Do you think that’s true domestically, that things like health care and the economic crisis have eclipsed it?

12:31

William Antholis -

Cheer up!! The Obama administration has already done more on climate change than any previous administration.

12:32

William Antholis - First, the stimulus package had almost $50 billion of tax credits and spending for renewable and other clean energy technology.

12:33

William Antholis -

And it worked with the House of representatives to pass the first comprehensive bill to address greenhouse gas emissions. While that bill is not all that some environmentalists wanted -- and while it still has to pass the Senate -- it is quite a start.

12:34

William Antholis - The real action lies ahead -- in the Senate and in the international negotiations in Copenhagen this coming December. But climate action is just starting, so I think those who are disappointed need to see the glass as half full.

12:34

[Comment From Gary]
What are realistic expectations for Copenhagen later this year?

12:35

William Antholis - I think we need to see Copenhagen as a next big step, but not the top of the staircase. The best case scenario is that industrial countries all agree to take emissions cuts, and that the US has already turned their pledge into domestic legislation (that is, the Senate passes, and the President signs) a comprehensive bill.

12:37

William Antholis - On the developing country side, Copenhagen would be successful if developing countries acknowledge that they need to starting slowing and then eventually cutting their emissions. What form these developing country pledges take -- when they might become "legally binding" and what the international community means by "legally binding" -- are still very much to be worked out.

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