Europe touts 40% carbon cut goal

NEW YORK CITY: At the United Nations Climate Summit, the European Commission (EC) will formally recommend a 40-percent cut in heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 for its 28 member countries, its president said on Monday.

"It's ambitious, but I believe it's achievable," EC President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a USA Today interview in advance of Tuesday's summit. He said he's confident that Europe's countries, which have been slashing emissions, will approve this new reduction — from 1990 levels — at a meeting next month.