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President Obama is apparently not going to wait for his Democratic majorities in Congress to crush our economy with a national energy tax. He’s moving ahead without them. After backroom deals in the House, postponement in the Senate, and threats to ignore both houses of Congress by instituting economically harmful EPA regulations, it looks like the Obama Administration may have found a new way to move closer to enacting their job-killing “cap-and-trade” scheme. The Wall Street Journal reports that White House “officials indicated that the administration is prepared to offer a provisional target for cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.”

The New York Times explains why Obama is willing to completely ignore Congress to set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets before the UN climate change meeting in Copenhagen next month:

The lack of consensus in Congress puts Mr. Obama in a tricky domestic and diplomatic bind. He cannot promise more than Congress may eventually deliver when it takes up climate change legislation next year. But if he does not offer some concrete pledge, the United States will bear the brunt of the blame for the lack of an international agreement.

Predictably, the Obama Administration is attacking anyone who dares to criticize them on this issue. Lisa Lerer of Politico writes:

It's been a bad few weeks for the Obama administration when it comes to climate change, as the White House has found itself trapped between a stalled Senate and constant hammering from world leaders on a lack of leadership on global warming. On Monday, the administration hit back. "It would be a mistake to conclude that the international community's failure to reach a final treaty in Copenhagen is due to a lack of domestic legislation in the United States," said a senior White House official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.

With the impending Copenhagen climate talks on the verge of collapse, President Obama is again trying to save face with the international community by signing up for a commitment that will punish the American worker as well as the economy.