Obama Energy Advisor: Climate Bill Unlikely in 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama's top energy advisor says the U.S. Congress is not likely to pass a bill targeting climate change this year.

The aide, Carol Browner, made the remarks Friday in Washington, but said the lack of a new U.S. policy will not hurt the country's ability to negotiate an international climate treaty.

A final round of negotiations on a new global treaty are scheduled for December in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Senate Democrats unveiled a plan Wednesday to cut U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions by 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. The House of Representatives passed a bill in June calling for a 17 percent cut.

If the Senate passes a climate change bill, the two measures would need to be negotiated into one final bill and signed by Mr. Obama.

In addition to climate change, U.S. lawmakers are also dealing with major health-care and financial reforms.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.