Gore 'certain' Obama will attend climate talks

Al Gore is confident that US President Barack Obama will attend key UN climate change talks in Copenhagen.

Al Gore is confident that US President Barack Obama will attend key UN climate change talks in Copenhagen, the former US vice president and Nobel peace laureate said in a German magazine interview.

"I see the calendar, I see the unfolding of events, and I feel certain he will go," Gore, who won the Nobel for his crusade against global warming, told the Monday edition of Der Spiegel.

Gore also expressed optimism that the US Congress would agree on the outline of climate legislation before the December 7-18 conference, which is aimed at finding a new global pact on cutting harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

Gore said he did not believe Congress would pass a bill by December but that an agreement could be reached by then to put Washington in a stronger position at the talks.

"Therefore, I think there is a very real prospect that the legislation will pass, and that as a result, Obama will have the ability to go to Copenhagen with a more substantive position," Gore said.

A bill in the lower US House of Representatives calls for cutting US greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and by 83 percent by 2050.

But the Senate is considering a slightly more ambitious bill that foresees a 20-percent cut by 2020.

The White House said on October 2 that Obama would consider attending the climate talks in Copenhagen if the meeting is elevated to the level of heads of state.