Greens push Obama to seek bigger climate deal

More than 150 environmental groups are asking President Obama to go even further on global warming than what he has proposed as part of an international climate change pact. 

In a letter sent Tuesday, the groups pushed Obama to increase the amount of carbon pollution the U.S. will cut as part of a climate agreement. They also said he should commit to stopping development of untapped fossil fuels on federal land while working toward a transition to 100 clean energy around the globe by 2050.

{mosads}“You have the capability to negotiate a climate agreement in Paris that will mark the turning point in the world’s efforts to avert catastrophic climate damage and thus protect the human rights of present and future generations,” the coalition, which includes the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace USA among others, wrote.

The proposals are aggressive and likely won’t catch on as part of an international climate change agreement. 

Obama has worked to solidify his climate change platform ahead of the on-going talks in Paris, saying the U.S. will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent by 2025 while cracking down on power sector pollution.

He has said more fossil fuels will have to stay in the ground if climate change is to be addressed. But his administration has dismissed green groups’ plea that it completely stop fossil fuel development on federal land. 

“We are a nation that continues to be dependent on fossil fuels,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in September.

”There are millions of jobs in this country that are dependent on these industries, and you can’t just cut it off overnight and expect to have an economy that is, in fact, the leader in the world.”

Greens have largely welcomed Obama’s climate proposals, but say more needs to be done in the U.S. and around the world if the global temperature increase is to stay below 2 degrees Celsius, a threshold scientists warn could bring about the worst of global warming.

“An international climate deal must be based on equity and science,” Benjamin Schreiber, the climate and energy program director for Friends of the Earth U.S. said in a statement. 

“If the world’s largest historical polluter refuses to do its fair share then it is no surprise that the final agreement isn’t sufficient to address the problem.”