Obama raises hopes on climate treaty

WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- A top British official says U.S. President Barack Obama may be able to convince nations to unite for an international treaty on climate change.

"The No. 1 thing will be for everyone to see that the United States is on an urgent and transformational path to a low-carbon economy -- that would have a galvanizing effect," said John Ashton, Britain's representative for climate change.

Obama wants the United States at the forefront of international climate change and his representatives will negotiate in a "robust way" for an environmental treaty to be signed in Copenhagen in December, White House officials say.

The treaty will replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which the United States, under the Bush administration, refused to ratify. Even countries that signed the protocol lagged far behind their targets in cutting carbon dioxide emissions, The New York Times reported Sunday.

In his speech last week to Congress, Obama promised to push through federal legislation this year to cut emissions, though he faces obstacles from critics who contend the legislation will be too costly for businesses.