Kerry: Us to pass “major” climate legislation

A successful deal in Copenhagen will lead the way for climate legislation in the US Congress, says Senator John Kerry.
Marianne Bom - 16/12/2009 - The Chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, on Wednesday promised that the US Congress will pass a climate change bill in 2010 if the UN climate conference becomes a success.

"With a successful deal here in Copenhagen, next year, the US Congress - House and Senate - will pass legislation," Kerry said at a meeting in Copenhagen, quoted by the Guardian. "I will tell you right now, 100 percent, we are going to pass major climate and energy legislation that is going to have an impact on emissions."

John Kerry mentioned one key requirement that the talks had to meet in order to get US backing: China and other developing countries should meet the US demand for accountability on their emission cuts. This demand has so far been rejected by some larger developing countries.

"In the Senate and in America, the concerns that kept us out of Kyoto back in 1997 are still with us today, and we need to preempt them here in Copenhagen," Kerry said and continued:

"I don't offer these insights to defend inaction. I simply want to describe for you the reality of what it will take to get this done. Some of my colleagues in Washington - like some leaders elsewhere - remain reluctant to grapple with a climate crisis mostly measured in future dangers, when they're confronted every day with the present pain of hardworking people in a tough economic time,” he was quoted as saying by CQ Politics.

“To pass a bill, we must be able to assure a senator from Ohio that steel workers in his state won't lose their jobs to India and China because those countries are not participating in a way that is measurable, reportable and verifiable," he said. (Photo: Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs/image.net)

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