Obama preparing to lay out climate strategy

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. President Barack Obama is preparing to lay out a package of measures aimed at curbing climate change, including limits on emissions from power plants, BBC News reported.

He will also unveil plans for an expansion of renewable energy projects, improved flood resilience and seeking an international climate deal. The President will make a speech at Georgetown University on Tuesday, June 25.

But he is considered unlikely to broach the issue of the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. And administration officials have previously rejected any prospect of a "carbon tax".

The announcements will give shape to the President's intentions - voiced in his inaugural address in January - to act on climate change in his second term.

Most of the strategy involves using President Obama's executive authority without congressional approval. Other parts of the plan could face opposition in the US House, which is dominated by Republicans, and in the Senate.

The President is expected to reaffirm his 2009 commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 17% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade.

The centerpiece of the plan is a memorandum to launch the first-ever limits on carbon emissions from existing power plants, the single biggest source of carbon pollution.

The President also plans an expansion of solar and wind energy projects on public lands, with the aim of generating enough electricity to power the equivalent of six million homes by 2020. He will also set higher goals for renewables installed at federal housing projects.

He is also announcing $8bn in federal loan guarantees to spur investment in green technologies.

But the $7bn, 1,700 mile Keystone XL pipeline, meant to bring heavy crude from the tar sands of Alberta in Canada to the refineries of Texas, is unlikely to get a mention.

Backed by industry and labor unions, but staunchly opposed by green campaigners, it has turned into one of the biggest environmental challenges of the President's time in office.

The project is currently being reviewed by the U.S. State Department, with a decision not likely to come before the autumn.