President Barack Obama Can Show His Commitment to Climate Change Action

The European Union's top climate change official said Thursday that President Barack Obama can show his commitment to climate change action by rejecting TransCanada's plan to build the Keystone XL pipeline. 

"I think that would be an extremely strong signal [that Obama is serious about climate change action]," EU climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, said during a briefing with reporters in Washington. "That would be a strong signal to the world." 

Hedegaard, who is meeting with several Obama administration officials during her trip to Washington Thursday and Friday, pointed to recent EU attempts to label oil produced from tar sands as highly polluting. 

Those efforts, stalled amid fierce lobbying from Canada's government and oil industry, are aimed at reducing greenhouse gases from European sold transport fuel 6% by the end of the decade. 

Hedegaard declined to speculate over whether the US State Department would ultimately approve Keystone XL, but said EU officials were anxiously awaiting the decision. 

Secretary of State John Kerry said during his confirmation hearing last month that he would try to conclude the State Department's review of Keystone XL by the end of March. 

Hedegaard, who plans to press US officials to work to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and curb GHG hydrofluorocarbons, said Obama's call for climate change action, both during his recent State of the Union and inaugural addresses, were "so clear." 

"That is, of course, sweet music to European ears," she said. 

During her visit, Hedegaard plans to meet with Michael Froman, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs; acting Environmental Protection Agency administrator Bob Perciasepe; Todd Stern, the special envoy for climate change at State; and members of Congress working to get climate change legislation passed.