WASHINGTON, Nov. 11, 2014 -- Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is calling for congressional action on climate change, following the announcement that the U.S. and China have jointly made a commitment to reduce dangerous carbon pollution.
Boxer, the chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said there is now no longer an excuse for Congress to block action on climate change.
“The biggest carbon polluter on our planet, China, has agreed to cut back on dangerous emissions,” Boxer said in a statement. “Now we should make sure all countries do their part because this is a threat to the people that we all represent.” The U.S. is the second biggest greenhouse-gas polluter.
President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached agreement on the deal Wednesday during Obama’s visit to China. According to the Washington Post, China agreed that its greenhouse-gas emissions would peak by 2030 or earlier, and to try to get about 20 percent of its energy from non-fossil fuels by 2030. For its part, the U.S. agreed to cut its emissions by between 26 and 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. That’s faster than had been planned.
In the past, Republicans have resisted taking action on climate change, arguing that U.S. efforts would be ineffective without action from China. The agreement may undercut that argument.
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