International Leaders, Obama Preparing For Critical Climate Conference

PARIS (AP) — French President Francois Hollande is gearing up for the critical round of clime talks starting Monday in Paris.

He's meeting today with environmental groups pushing for an ambitious global deal to reduce man-made emissions blamed for global warming.

President Barack Obama, the leaders of China, Russia and more than 140 other countries will attend the talks Nov. 30-Dec. 11. They will try to hash out the broadest, most lasting deal to date to slow global warming.

Today's meeting and the talks are taking place under extraordinary security after Islamic extremists killed 130 people Nov. 13 in the deadliest attacks in France in decades.

Obama has one hand tied behind his back as he heads to Paris on Sunday to try to negotiate a legacy-making climate change pact.

Congress can't even agree whether global warming is real.

Scientists point to the global agreement as the last, best chance to avoid the worst effects of global warming. Obama has prodded other countries to make ambitious carbon-cutting pledges. He hopes the deal will become the framework to tackle climate change long into the future.

But Republicans have tried to undermine Obama by sowing uncertainty about whether the U.S. will ever make good on its own contribution.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and others have warned other countries not to trust any deal from Obama. Meantime, their allies are working to nullify Obama's emissions-cutting steps.

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