U.S. to bring emissions cut target to Copenhagen talks

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will propose an emissions reduction target at U.N. climate change talks in Copenhagen in December with an eye towards winning support from U.S. lawmakers who must agree to put it into law.

A senior Obama administration official told reporters on Monday that Washington would make clear in the "next several days" what it planned to put on the table at the talks, and a greenhouse gas emissions goal -- in line with proposals in the U.S. Congress -- would be included.

The White House would also decide in the coming days when and whether President Barack Obama would attend the December 7-18 meeting, the official said.

The talks are meant to help forge a deal to fight global warming after the Kyoto Protocol -- a pact that binds countries around the world to cut emissions -- expires in 2012.

The United States, the world's biggest per capita emitter of greenhouse gases, is a critical player in the talks, but the Obama administration's position has been hampered by slow progress on a climate bill in the U.S. Senate.

Big emitters such as China, the world's top carbon polluter, are watching Washington for its position.

Most nations have given up hopes of agreeing to a binding legal treaty text in Copenhagen, partly because of uncertainty about what the United States will be able to offer.

The senior official said U.S. negotiators will propose an emissions reduction target that takes into account a pending bill in the Senate and a bill passed in the House of Representatives, even though a final law is not complete.