Poll: Action on climate will boost US economy

More Americans believe steps taken to reduce global warming pollution will help the US economy than say such measures will hurt it. 15/12/2009 - In an Associated Press-Stanford University poll, 40 percent said US action to slow global warming in the future would create jobs. Slightly more, 46 percent, said it would boost the economy.

By contrast, less than a third said curbing climate change would hurt the economy and result in fewer jobs, a message Republican members of Congress plan to take to an international global warming conference in Copenhagen this week.

"They're wrong," Ron Classen, who participated in the poll, said of the Republican stance. "People are going to be shifted from one job to another," said Classen, a self-described fan of environmentalist and former Vice President Al Gore.

The survey's results seem to boost Democratic efforts to curb global warming pollution and sign on to an international agreement to reduce heat-trapping gases, despite the concerns many Americans have about the recession and the high unemployment rate.

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Four world leaders discuss climate negotiations
The leaders of France, Britain, Germany and the United States "coordinated their positions" on Tuesday ahead of this week's climate summit in Copenhagen.
15/12/2009 - French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office says he's held a video conference on the climate talks with US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Sarkozy's office says the 50-minute discussion touched on "essential points under negotiation" at the climate talks in Copenhagen.

Merkel spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm says the leaders "coordinated their positions and tasked their staff with working closely together during the further preparations" for the summit in the Danish capital. The leaders spoke Tuesday.

Da UNFCCC