The United States is likely to reduce its greenhouse gas
emissions by 16.3 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, falling just
shy of the 17 percent target pledged by President Obama at the
2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, according to a new
study. "With the failure to pass comprehensive climate
legislation in the 2010-2011 Congress, most analysts in the U.S.
and internationally would have concluded that the U.S. is doing
nothing to meet its Copenhagen pledge," said Dallas Burtraw, a
senior fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF) and lead author
of the report. "The surprise is that we appear to be on course
to meet that pledge, and that's a finding that is very different
than the expectation that people are carrying around in the U.S.
and internationally," he added. Burtraw and co-author Matt
Woerman calculate that the largest portion of projected
emissions reductions will come about through U.S. EPA
regulations of mobile sources, such as cars and light trucks,
and stationary sources, such as power plan