BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

By Ehud Zion Waldoks Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) and ministry director-general Yossi Inbar attended an urgent UN summit on climate change in New York on Tuesday to present Israel's commitment to reduce carbon emissions. United Nations Secretary... United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, left, is joined by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, center and actor Hugh Jackman, right, for Climate Week NYC opening ceremony in New York on Monday. Erdan joined 100 other officials at the summit, including US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao. While it was too early to present a serious recommendation for how Israel planned to reduce its emissions, Erdan was expected to reiterate the country's commitment to the process and discuss the steps that have been taken so far, the ministry's acting director of international relations, Ayelet Rosen, told The Jerusalem Post. Erdan was to address the emergency summit called by UN Secretar...

President Barack Obama pushed urgently Thursday for passage of legislation to confront global warming, billing it as a job-creating machine rather than the costly "job killer" Republicans denounced. He telephoned wavering Democrats on the eve of what could be a historic House vote. Speaking in the Rose Garden at the White House, Obama said Washington must not miss the opportunity to work on cleaning the air, creating new "green" energy jobs and moving the nation away from its reliance on fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. The White House appeared concerned that momentum for the bill was slipping, though White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that when it came time for a House showdown, "I'd bet on the president." Democratic leaders scurried to line up enough votes to get the bill passed. They enlisted former Vice President Al Gore, the country's most prominent voice on the urgency of addressing climate change, to make phone call...