Merkel: Climate right for climate action

by Mark Silva

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among the European leaders who have pressed the United States hardest on the question of climate change, is arriving in Washington for a meeting with President Barack Obama as the House prepares to vote on the "Clean Energy and Security Act.''

This will be Merkel's fourth meeting with Obama - with the German leader planning to speak with her American counterpart about climate protection and the global economy. The two plan a joint press availability at the White House on Friday.

"I am very much looking forward to the visit," Merkel said before leaving Berlin today.

The timing may not be quite perfect, however.

"As the House heads toward a vote on landmark global warming legislation, Democratic leaders are still trying to shore up support from pockets of resistance in their own party,'' Congressional Quarterly reports. "House leaders are trying to secure a majority for passage in time for a floor vote on Friday.

But Agriculture Chairman Collin C. Peterson ( D-Minn.). who has been working with bill sponsors on specific details, said the vote could be delayed until Saturday.

(Climate activists of the pressure group Avaaz ("Voice") dressed as super heroes German chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and President Barack Obama, right, in front of Brandenburg gate in Berlin today calling on Merkel to return to her previous status as 'EU climate superhero.' Photo by Maya Hitij / AP)

Obama and Merkel will meet again several times this year: At the Group of Eight Summit in Italy early next month, at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September and at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December. They two met in July 2008, in Berlin, before Obama was elected and have met three times since his election - in Baden-Baden in April and in Dresden and Buchenwald in June.

Merkel also plans a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Pelosi) and other members of Congress, where Chancellor Merkel will also address climate protection.

The German government is praising the American Clean Energy and Security Act under debate now - "The German government welcomes this debate on climate protection and would like to see the United States commit itself to binding reduction targets at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen,'' the government said in a statement today.

"There is currently much movement on this issue in the United States.... making it a good time to talk about how an agreement can be reached at the Copenhagen climate conference. However, there is still a great deal of work ahead.''