The new administration has signaled its approach to global warming will be quite different than its predecessor's. This became even more evident after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made carbon control an integral part of the White House's strategy for recapturing America's foreign image.

On a tour of Eastern Asia this week, Clinton walked into international climate talks, whose tone had turned morose over the apparent inability to meet lofty goals of a decade ago, with a stated commitment to seeing the U.S. and China take the lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Clinton said she is determined to begin work to break the deadlock between the US and China over emission targets. In China on Thursday, Clinton set out plans for a U.S.-China pact to help cut both country's emissions, modeled on proposals put forward by experts from the Asia Society and the Pew Centre for Climate Change last week.

She also proposed a summit between President Obama and Chinese leader Hu Jintao on improving energy efficiency and meeting targets for GHG emission reductions.