A major reason for the U.S. to cut its greenhouse gas emissions is to play a global role as a technological, economic, and political leader while the world is shifting to cheaper production of low-carbon energy.

"The United Nations over a climate treaty are moving at glacial speed — and that's in part because there's a fundamental problem.

In the coming decades, carbon dioxide emissions from China, India and other rapidly developing countries are expected to grow quickly. Residents there aspire to lifestyles Americans and Europeans enjoy today, and those nations aren't willing to slash emissions, because doing so could slow their economic growth.

With carbon dioxide on the rise from sources outside the United States, some people are asking why the U.S. should bear the expense involved in slashing its own emissions."

Richard Harris reports for NPR's Morning Edition November 26, 2013. [2]