Senate Working On Framework For Climate Talks, Lieberman Says
Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, said hes working with Senator John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, to “move the Senate as far as we can before Copenhagen.”
More than 190 countries are set to meet in the Danish capital next month to try to craft a treaty. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, after meeting in Washington yesterday with Lieberman and Kerry, said hes optimistic the U.S. will take a leadership role in forging political consensus.
“No country is more important than the United States in resolving this climate change” challenge, Ban told reporters on Capitol Hill. “All eyes of the world are looking to the United States.”
The U.S. Congress hasnt produced climate-change legislation, so U.S. officials in Copenhagen may have no clear guidance on what lawmakers can accept in a treaty. The inability of the U.S. to commit to a plan would diminish the prospects for a deal, Danish climate minister Connie Hedegaard said in an interview last month.
Legally Binding
Ban, who also met yesterday with Senator Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican, said he hopes a strong political agreement will be reached in Copenhagen that acts as a foundation for a “legally binding treaty as soon as possible early next year.”
“U.S. leadership is crucial at this time,” he said. A Senate “framework” on climate change can work as a “very strong political message” from the U.S.
Ban also said he welcomed President Barack Obamas comments in an interview with Reuters this week that he would be willing to make an appearance at the two-week meeting in Copenhagen next month if he thought his presence would make a difference and if nations are negotiating in good faith.
“Im encouraged by his willingness” to participate in the Copenhagen meeting, Ban said.
Senate Democrats won committee approval last week of a bill to reduce carbon-dioxide pollution blamed for climate change. The measure was approved by 11 of 12 Democrats and no Republicans. The House passed legislation in June.
Kerry and Lieberman said yesterday that they are hopeful that all five Senate committees with jurisdiction over climate change and energy matters will complete work in time for them, along with Graham, to draft a legislative outline that Obama officials can point to in Copenhagen.
Lieberman said that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucuss comments that his panel wont finish drafting a climate bill before next year is a “practical problem.”
“I hope that Senator Baucus can find a way to mark up his part of the legislation,” Lieberman said. The portions of the bill overseen by the Finance Committee are “critical,” he said.
The committee headed by Baucus, a Montana Democrat, has jurisdiction over trade issues and how to distribute emissions allocations.
“The framework wont be whole without that,” Lieberman said.