Obama Will Attend Climate Summit in Copenhagen

President Obama will attend the climate-change summit in Copenhagen next month, according to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. The president, who had not previously committed to making the trip, has been under pressure from environmental activists and other nations to do so as a sign that the U.S. is serious about reaching an international agreement on addressing global warming. Obama will deliver a speech Dec. 9 while on his way to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo the following day.

Over 190 nations will be represented at the Copenhagen meeting, and word of Obama's attendance comes as many reports predict that agreement on a climate-change treaty will not be reached. Obama will tell the delegates that the United States intends to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions "in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020," energy and climate czar Carol Browner told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

"Obviously, we are glad that President Obama will be in Copenhagen in the early part of the climate summit," said Keya Chatterjee, the climate director for World Wildlife Fund. "It's important that his words during this important moment convey that the United States intends to make climate change a legislative priority, not simply a rhetorical one."