When President Obama takes part in the international climate meetings in Copenhagen next week, he won't carry with him any domestic legislation that mandates strict limits on carbon emissions. While this may have initially seemed like a missed opportunity to increase leverage for binding global limits, Obama certainly won't be making the trip without anything to show for his administration's environmental stewardship.

For starters, the White House will formally commit to the United States cutting emissions "in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020." While not nearly as stringent as is needed to protect against the worst threats climate change poses, such targets are unprecedented coming from a sitting president. The commitment is also expected to spur action from other high-emission nations --  namely China and India -- that have previously rejected such tight environmental controls.

The president can also remind global leaders of the valuable work being done to limit carbon output at the state level. Those advancements are illustrated in a new report released this week by Environment America. While it's true that the federal government is dragging its feet on the issue, various states have implemented some significant and innovative policies aimed at addressing global warming. We've previously written about many of the important developments here in Illinois, but this nationwide assessment is another helpful reminder. Indeed, the report found that state actions will limit carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 537 million metric tons by 2020. According to Environment Illinois' Brian Granahan, that's equivalent to the annual emissions of 104 million cars. Illinois will account for 32.7 million metric tons of that total, 11 million alone of which will be saved because of the state's 2007 renewable electricity standard. At a press conference in Chicago today, Gov. Pat Quinn and other environmental advocates explained how state-level initiatives can (and should) influence national action:

While the focus should rightfully be placed on the legislators in Washington, there's still a ton of work to do back in Springfield. For example, the state's notoriously weak tailpipe standards -- which the General Assembly has failed to strengthen on multiple occasions -- will only reduce emissions by1.3 million metric tons over the next decade. But because of the valuable work of state-based environmental policymakers, Obama can use them as an example of what America will be able to achieve going forward.