WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters gathered on the Washington’s National Mall on Sunday calling on President Barack Obama to reject the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline proposal and honor his inaugural pledge to act on climate change.

Organizers of the “Forward on Climate” event estimated that 35,000 people from 30 states turned out in cold, blustery conditions for what they said was the biggest climate rally in U.S. history. Police did not verify the crowd size.

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters
gathered on the Washington’s National Mall on Sunday calling on
U.S. President Barack Obama to reject the controversial Keystone
XL oil pipeline proposal and honor his inaugural pledge to act
on climate change.

Organizers of the “Forward on Climate” event estimated that
35,000 people from 30 states turned out in cold, blustery
conditions for what they said was the biggest climate rally in
U.S. history. Police did not verify the crowd size.

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Environmentalists and
industry groups ramped up efforts on Wednesday to sway the White
House’s decision on the Keystone XL pipeline project, a day
after U.S. President Barack Obama said he will take action to
curb climate-warming emissions.

A small group of activists and celebrities staged a protest
in front of the White House to put pressure on Obama to reject
the controversial proposed crude oil pipeline. About four dozen
protesters, including actress Daryl Hannah, were arrested.

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Environmentalists and
industry groups ramped up efforts on Wednesday to try to sway
the White House’s decision on the controversial Keystone XL
pipeline, a day after U.S. President Barack Obama said he will
take action to curb climate-warming emissions.

A small group of activists and celebrities staged a protest
in front of the White House to put pressure on Obama to reject
the proposed crude oil pipeline. The action came ahead of a
rally planned for Sunday on Washington’s National Mall, which
organizers have dubbed “the largest climate rally in history”.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama gave Congress an ultimatum on climate change in his State of the Union address: craft a plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions or the White House will go it alone.

Energy policy analysts have long expected that Republican opposition to proposals such as putting a price on climate-warming carbon emissions meant the White House would need to flex its executive powers on certain climate moves.

WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) – States involved in the
developing northeastern U.S. carbon market are expected to
announce on Thursday that they will reduce the program’s
emissions cap as a way to stimulate allowance trading and
strengthen its environmental goals, according to the Natural
Resources Defense Council.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s (RGGI) nine member
states have agreed to lower the market’s carbon cap to 91
million short tons from the current level of 165 million for the
next phase, which will run from 2014 to 2017, said Dale Bryk, an
attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which
is a RGGI stakeholder and observer.

WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) – The United States will not be
able to meet its goal of slashing greenhouse gases 17 percent by
2020 from a 2005 baseline without taking additional steps to
target emissions, a new report found.

The economic downturn and an increase in supplies of cheap
natural gas, which has displaced coal in some power plants, have
slashed carbon emissions but are only temporary trends,
according to the World Resources Institute, a think tank that
focuses on global environmental issues

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is likely to rely mostly on existing rules and on flexing executive power to execute its second-term environmental agenda, sidestepping Congress as it sets about radically reducing greenhouse gases generated by major polluters.

Just a day after President Barack Obama said in his inaugural address that for the United States not to respond to the threat of climate change would “betray our children and future generations,” White House spokesman Jay Carney tamped down expectations for bold new moves.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is likely to rely mostly on existing rules and on flexing executive power to execute its second-term environmental agenda, sidestepping Congress as it sets about radically reducing greenhouse gases generated by major polluters.

Just a day after President Barack Obama said in his inaugural address that for the United States not to respond to the threat of climate change would “betray our children and future generations,” White House spokesman Jay Carney tamped down expectations for bold new moves.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Reeling from an historic drought, the hottest year on record and more frequent wild weather, mayors from a number of U.S. cities urged the White House this week to take the lead on setting an agenda to address climate change.

City leaders said that only the federal government has the tools and clout to address greenhouse gases often blamed for warming the planet, while mayors focus on issues of “local warming” such as providing a reliable water supply or protecting citizens during dangerous weather events such as the 1995 Chicago heat wave that was blamed for over 700 deaths.