Climate control 'sea change' in U.S.

by Mark Silva

President Barack Obama said today that expected House passage of an energy bill controlling greenhouse gas emissions will affirm an American "commitment'' to combating global warming, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called it "a sea change'' in U.S. policy.

The two leaders, speaking at a joint news conference following a private meeting at the White House, also reaffirmed their commitment to preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and voiced their common outrage over Iran's violent suppression of election protestors.

This was the third time that Obama and Merkel had met since Obama's election - though they had met once during Obama's campaign for president. And the two will meet again soon, at a summit for the leaders of the Group of Eight industrial nations in Italy in early July, and at a Group of 20 summit planned in Pittsburgh in September.

Merkel and other European leaders have been critical of the U.S. spending strategy for stimulus of a recession-bound economy.

And Merkel and others long have pushed the U.S. to take a tougher stance on climate control - the European leaders had urged former President George W. Bush to support caps on greenhouse gas emissions that the Obama administration now is embracing with expected passage of an energy bill by the House today.

"I reiterated America's commitment to stand with Germany and lead in confronting the energy and environmental crisis,'' Obama said, with Merkel at his side in an East Room news conference following their meeting in the Oval Office. "It is my hope that the United States will match that commitment today.''

The energy legislation which House leaders hope to pass today features a "cap-and-trade" system of limiting heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions that scientists blame for global warming.

Under this plan, major emitters of greenhouse gases -- including factories and power plants -- would have to obtain permits for their emissions or buy "offsets" to cover them. The number of permits are to decrease each year, reducing overall emissions by more than 80 percent by 2050. Most emitters would initially get free permits, but in later years would purchase them at auction.

"This is indeed a sea change,'' Merkel said of the bill, speaking through an interpreter at the joint news conference. "This really points to the fact that the United States really is very serious on climate.

"The fact that, with the United States, we stand where we are today is an enormous success, which I would not have thought possible a year ago,'' Merkel said, without naming the former president by name.

Both leaders were pressed on the treatment of protestors in Iran and asked how this will affect negotiations with Iran over its enrichment of nuclear material. Iran maintains that it is developing civilian nuclear power. The U.S. and European allies, certain that Iran is developing a bomb, insist that this must be prevented.

Asked about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's demand that Obama apologize for interfering in Iranian affairs - or if Obama would like the Iranian to apologize for comparing Obama to Bush, Obama said: "I don't take Mr. Ahmadinejad's statements seriously about apologies, particularly given the fact that the United States has gone out of its way not to interfere with the election process in Iran.''

While he initially had concluded that there were not "significant differences'' between Iran's president and the opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, on "security issues,'' Obama said today that Mousavi has "been shown to capture the spirit and imagination of forces in Iran that were interested in opening up. He has become a representative of many of those people who are on the streets...

"I continue to believe that ultimately it's up to the Iranian people to make decisions about who their leaders are going to be,'' Obama said. But "a government that treats its own citizens with that kind of ruthlessness and violence and cannot deal with peaceful protestors... has moved outside of universal norms, international norms, that are important to uphold... What has happened in Iran is unacceptable.''

"Over the past few weeks, we have seen horrifying scenes, looking at how, for example, the security forces have dealt with demonstrators,'' Merkel said. "In this day and age of the 21st Century, Iran cannot count on the world community turning a blind eye on this.''

Asked how the protests will impede negotiations on the nuclear question, Obama said: "We are still waiting to see how the situation plays out.

"There is no doubt that the progress of any talks will be affected,'' he said, noting that European nations are continuing their talks with the Iranians. "We won't know how any potential (direct U.S.) dialog will be affected until we see what has happened in Iran.

"The clock is ticking. Iran is developing nuclear capacity at a fairly rapid clip,'' Obama said. "They have been doing so for some time.''

The two leaders discussed the broader situation in the Middle East, and also Obama's intention of closing the U.S.-run military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. While they discussed Germany's willingness to help, Obama said he had made no specific requests of Merkel and she had made no commitments.

A strengthening relationship between the two leaders also appears to be developing in these ongoing talks.

"I value her wisdom and her candor, and I admire very much her leadership and her pragmatic approach to getting things done,'' Obama said. "Part of the warmth I feel toward Germany is that I like Chancellor Merkel a lot... Chancellor Merkel is smart and practical, and I trust her when she says something.''