Obama clean power plan welcomed – but won't avoid dangerous warming

Politicians and analysts say plan to cut emissions from US power plants helps effort to strike UN climate change deal in Paris later this year

President Barack Obama's plan to slash electricity-generated CO2 emissions was welcomed on Tuesday as a courageous step towards a lower-carbon future, but not yet enough to brake dangerous global warming.

Politicians and analysts said Obama's clean power plan, which faces fierce opposition in Republican quarters back home, should foster global goodwill and spur the international effort to pin down a climate rescue pact by year-end.