'US can challenge India on climate goals'

Washington, Dec 21: A top White House adviser has said that the US can challenge India and China in case if they fail to meet the stated goals in the non-binding Copenhagen climate agreement.

Obama adviser David Axelrod noted that as part of the agreement between the US and four other countries, China and India have set goals for combating climate change.

"We're going to be able to review what they're doing. We're going to be able to challenge them if they don't meet those goals," Axelrod was quoted by CNN as saying.

"Now the Chinese, the Indians, the other major economies are coming along and this is the result of (Obama's) strong leadership," he said

Axelrod further said the US intends to pursue efforts to lessen greenhouse gas emissions even in the absence of making a binding international commitment to do so.

"We're going to pursue this anyway because the president understands that our future lies with a clean energy economy," he added.

OneIndia News