On 29 March, the initial day of the first of three preparatory meetings for the Copenhagen climate-change summit in December, Todd Stern, the US special envoy on climate change, drew thunderous applause when he told the delegates that he was "determined to make up for lost time". When the meeting ended on 8 April many of the 2,000 delegates had the impression that there was still a lot of making up to do. Stern told the 175 national delegations that the implementation of a national cap and trade programme could help cut US emissions by around 15% from current levels by 2020, and by 80% by 2050. But he declined to say how feasible such a policy might be politically. Illustrating the challenges, 89 US senators recently voted to adopt a non-binding budget amendment stipulating that climate legislation should not increase gasoline or electricity prices.
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