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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top official at the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday the ongoing legal fight over regulating carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants won't delay the nation's accelerating shift to cleaner sources of energy. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy spoke at Climate Action 2016, a conference in Washington on efforts to curb global warming. Seeking to reassure her international audience, McCarthy said the United States will absolutely meet its obligations to cut carbon emissions as agreed to in the landmark climate treaty signed in Paris last December.

The Paris Agreement and the global divestment campaign has secured one of its biggest victories to date, after banking giant Deutsche Bank announced it would halt investment in new coal projects in line with its commitment to the international climate change treaty.

The key global goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius is already beyond reach as negotiators begin planning a 2015 climate treaty, experts say. "There is nothing that can be agreed in 2015 that would be consistent with the 2 degrees," said former United Nations climate chief Yvo de Boer. "The only way that a 2015 agreement can achieve a 2-degree goal is to shut down the whole global economy

The joint announcements set a powerful precedent for other countries to emulate, and could foster ambitious international action in the near term. Many have their eye on international climate negotiations in Paris next year, where the U.S. and China's bilateral cooperation could lay necessary groundwork for a potential future international climate treaty.

As President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, several governors and mayors of major cities reacted with disappointment and pledges to continue environmental efforts. "Worldwide, cities will lead in achieving climate treaty goals because so much of what's required happens at the local level," said Austin, Texas, Mayor Steve Adler.

Thousands of barrels of tar-sands oil have been burbling up into forest areas for at least six weeks in Cold Lake, Alberta, and it seems that nobody knows how to staunch the flow.