U.S. climate envoy takes aim at developing nations

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By Deborah Zabarenko and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. diplomat on climate change took aim at developing countries on Wednesday, saying their inaction was not helping shape a global agreement to be considered in Copenhagen in December.

"The sooner we get past the pattern of resisting responsible action and the sooner we get into the pattern of searching for pragmatic common ground, the better off we will be," Todd Stern told a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

In uncharacteristically blunt language, Stern said progress on the formal U.N. climate negotiating track has been too slow, with just 32 days before the start of the international climate conference in Copenhagen.

Asked whether the United States would be able to sign on to a global agreement in Copenhagen, Stern said, "I think we have a fair distance yet to go but I actually think there is a deal to be done."

He told the committee that some developing countries are "hiding behind a misreading" of language in two key climate documents, the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 2007 Bali Action Plan, which recognize different responsibilities and capabilities for rich and poor countries.

"What is not helpful is the way some developing countries ... focus more on citing chapter and verse of dubious interpretations (of these documents) ... designed to prove that they don't have any responsibility for action now, rather than thinking through pragmatic ways to find common ground to start solving the problem," Stern said.

As Stern testified in the House, Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee boycotted a work session on climate change legislation for the second day.

Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, is hoping to vote to approve her bill soon requiring a 20 percent reduction in industry emissions of carbon dioxide by 2020, from 2005 levels. Democrats hope progress toward moving the legislation forward in the Senate will boost the U.S. negotiating position in Copenhagen next month.

Separate from the committee's work, Senators John Kerry and Lindsey Graham were working behind the scenes with Obama administration officials on Wednesday on a compromise bill -- one that would contain carbon-cutting steps along with new government incentives for nuclear power and offshore oil drilling.

Work on a compromise bill could extend at least through the end of this year. (Additional reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Bill Trott)

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