As the clock ticks down toward the United Nations conference on climate change in Copenhagen next month, a senior administration official said Monday morning that the Obama administration will issue its long-awaited target for U.S. carbon emissions reductions "in the next several days."

In recent weeks, there has been uncertainty about whether the administration would commit to a specific reduction target before Congress passes climate change legislation, which Senate officials have now acknowledged will not occur until next year at the earliest. But the official said that President Obama's "view is that as part of a comprehensive accord all the major countries will need to put forward their commitment on emissions." The U.S. proposal, the official said, "will take cognizance of where we are in the legislative process."

In June, the House narrowly passed legislation mandating a 17 percent reduction in domestic carbon emissions by 2020. The Senate bill from Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer and John Kerry would impose a 20 percent reduction over that period, but some leading Democrats have already urged that the goal be scaled back. The Obama administration's failure to identify a goal for U.S. emission reductions has drawn criticism from some other participants in the international talks.

The official also said Obama will make a decision on whether to attend the Copenhagen summit "in the coming days." Echoing recent comments from other administration aides, the official said that Obama's decision will turn on whether his participation could help seal an agreement. "If it looks as though the negotiations have proceeded sufficiently that going to Copenhagen would give a final impetus or push to the process, he would be willing to go," the official said.

The U.S. and other major nations recently abandoned the goal of negotiating a full-scale international climate change treaty at Copenhagen. Instead, they are now seeking to complete a comprehensive but informal agreement that would nonetheless commit the participating nations to pursue emission reductions over the next year while talks on a final agreement continue. Any agreement approved in Copenhagen, the official said, would have "immediate operational impact."

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