Obama is reportedly laying groundwork for a big climate deal at the U.N.

Obama is reportedly preparing a really big climate deal

(Image credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

last updated 18 March 2015

For months, President Obama has been working under the radar to get world leaders on board for a major agreement to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, to be finalized at United Nations climate change talks in Paris in December, Politico reports. Not that Obama has been all that secretive about his plans: He trumpeted a landmark deal he reached with China last year, and highlighted the issue in talks with India's Narendra Modi in January. And he's discussing his goals publicly.

The China deal "allows us to leverage the entire world for the conference that will be taking place later this year in Paris," Obama told Vice News in an interview broadcast Monday. "When I'm done, we're still going to have a heck of a problem, but we will have made enough progress that the next president and the next generation can start building on it."

At least that's his plan. "Republicans in Congress, sensing what he's up to, are already saying no. And Obama's already preparing to sign on without them," explains Politico's Edward-Isaac Dovere. "Since the Paris agreement would be voluntary and not a formal treaty, it's seen as much more likely to get support around the world. And it can happen without the Senate taking any kind of vote on it." Read more about the deal and the politics at Politico.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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