China and US sign greenhouse gas reduction agreement

Washington Post : Capping his visit to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing, President Obama appeared with Chinese president Xi Jinping to announce a deal to limit greenhouse gas emissions. China will cap its carbon emissions and will increase the proportion of non-fossil-fuel-based energy production to 20% by 2030. In exchange, the US has agreed to increase its planned reduction of emissions from 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 to 26–28% by 2025. The agreement is the first time that China has agreed to put a cap on its greenhouse gas emissions. The two countries account for 45% of the world’s emissions. Both countries’ goals will require significant effort to increase restrictions on polluters and to build new zero-emission power plants over industry and political opposition.