After months of obsessing over health care, President Barack Obama could give the climate debate a much-needed shot in the arm this week. Tomorrow he’ll speak at the United Nations’ Climate Summit in New York, a test run in advance of the Copenhagen conference in December. While Majority Leader Harry Reid has signaled that the Senate may not take up climate legislation until next year, Obama’s unofficial “green cabinet” has been quietly lobbying senators behind the scenes to assure them that the climate bill is viewed as a priority by the administration, the Washington Times reports. But the real test of Obama’s climate commitment will come later in the week when he addresses the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. Though the climate isn’t officially on the agenda there, watch how Obama does or doesn’t talk up green jobs and a carbon market to get an idea of how fast he wants to move on cap and trade.
