US Outlines Plan to Regulate Carbon Gas Emissions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has unveiled a strategy for cutting U.S. carbon gas emissions that emphasizes cooperation between the Obama administration and the U.S. Congress.

EPA chief Lisa Jackson outlined the plan Wednesday at a U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen.

She described her agency's decision this week to regulate carbon gas emissions in the United States as an attempt to boost ongoing U.S. congressional efforts dealing with global warming.

U.S. Senate debate is stalled on legislation imposing specific cuts on greenhouse gas emissions. But Jackson said the Obama administration is ready to work closely with lawmakers to pass comprehensive clean energy reforms lowering carbon emissions by more than 80 percent from current levels by mid-century.

The EPA ruled Monday that scientific evidence shows carbon emissions are a clear threat to Americans' health and should be regulated.

That decision gives the agency the power to regulate such emissions without Congressional approval.

The EPA decision was greeted warmly in Copenhagen, where delegates from 192 nations are seeking a deal to place caps on greenhouse gas emissions that many scientists say cause global warming.

Negotiators are struggling to balance the economic concerns of rich countries with those of developing economies. Poorer countries are demanding that industrialized economies bankroll the bulk of anti-pollution initiatives because such countries are believed to be responsible for the carbon gas linked to global warming.

More than 100 world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, are expected to attend the Copenhagen conference next week.