US climate treaty pledge relies on uncertain Obama actions

The United States has put forth its contribution to a global climate treaty, relying entirely on a set of emission cuts ordered by President Barack Obama that may not survive beyond the end of his presidency.
Environmental groups and like-minded governments hailed the US pledge as substantial and ambitious, and Obama's aides waxed hopeful that the US announcement would spur other countries to follow America's lead.
Yet with Obama's actions at home facing serious legal challenges and intense political opposition, the Obama administration conceded that many foreign capitals are dubious the US will live up to its commitment.
Todd Stern, the US special envoy for climate change, said the pollution rules Obama is counting on to achieve the US goal are on solid legal ground, pushing back on Republicans who have pledged to repeal them or stop them before they can take effect.

"Undoing the kind of regulations we are putting in place is something that is very hard to do," said Stern. "Countries ask me about the solidity of what we're doing all the time, and that's exactly what I explain."
To fulfill its pledge, the US has until 2025 to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases 26 per cent to 28 per cent below the levels recorded in 2005.

Obama first set that goal late last year as part of a joint climate agreement with China, then codified it yesterday as the formal US contribution to the climate treaty that nations are seeking to finalize by December, when leaders convene in Paris.

The United States is already part of the way there. Earlier in his presidency Obama set a goal to cut emissions 17 percent by 2020, and the boom in US natural gas production has had the ancillary effect of curbing emissions from dirtier coal-fired power plants.
In its written pledge, known to climate negotiators as an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, the US did not offer an exact formula for how it would achieve the remaining reductions.
Yet it pointed to an array of steps Obama has taken or is taking to curb emissions. Obama has ordered higher fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, methane limits for energy production, cuts in federal government emissions and unprecedented pollution rules for new and existing power plants.