WASHINGTON (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is pressing the Senate to take action on climate change, but crucial senators are making it clear that is unlikely to happen this year.
The U.N. chief met Tuesday with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to discuss the status of negotiations on a new international pact to slow global warming before 192 nations meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, next month.
Ban told the senators it was critical for the United States to take the lead, but he also said he understood that the Senate may not act before Copenhagen.
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry said he hoped to have an outline by the meeting of where the Senate was headed on curbing gases blamed for global warming.
Comments have been turned off for this article.