Earth Equity News

Browner Says that Climate Bill 'Is Not Going to Happen' Before Copenhagen Summit. By Suzanne Goldenberg, London Guardian, October 4, 2009. "Barack Obama's main energy adviser, Carol Browner, gave the clearest indication to date that the administration did not expect the Senate to vote on a climate change bill before an international meeting in Copenhagen in December. Browner spoke barely 48 hours after Senate Democrats staged a campaign-style rally in support of a climate change bill that seeks to cut US emissions by 20% on 2005 levels by 2020. 'Obviously, we'd like to be through the process, but that's not going to happen,' Browner told a conference hosted by the Atlantic magazine on Friday. 'I think we would all agree the likelihood that you'd have a bill signed by the president on comprehensive energy by the time we go in December is not likely.' Browner's bleak assessment deepens concerns that negotiations, already deadlocked, will fail to produce a meaningful agreement in Copenhagen. It also threatens to further dampen the prospects for a bill that was struggling for support among conservative and rustbelt Democrats."