The United States and China, the world’s two largest polluters, have agreed to limit greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade. President Obama unveiled the deal at a news conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The United States will double the pace of carbon emission reduction, the president said, to 26% to 28% of its 2005 level.
China intends to peak carbon dioxide emissions around 2030, and increase the non-fossil fuel share of all energy to around 20% by 2030, said Obama, in what the White House called the first ever Chinese agreement to set a ceiling on its CO2 limits.
Republican Party criticism quickly followed, as Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the next majority leader, called it “unrealistic.”
President Obama: “Today I can also announce that the United States has set a new goal of reducing our net greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2025. This is an ambitious goal, but it is an achievable goal. It will double the pace at which we’re reducing carbon pollution in the United States. It puts us on a path to achieving the deep emissions reductions by advanced economies that the scientific community says is necessary to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change.”
Right-wing media portrayed the achievable goal as an “avalanche,” “onslaught,” or “deluge” of “costly new” regulations.
OK, Fine. 