The Obama administration has announced new cuts to carbon emissions ahead of this year’s U.N. climate talks in Paris. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the measure was announced in line with the pollution reduction deal struck with China last year.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest: “The fact is the kind of an agreement that the president succeeded in striking with China and is implementing here in the United States is one that will have a positive impact on carbon pollution, will have a positive impact on trying to make the air safer for Americans here in this country, and will have a positive impact on our economy. And that’s why the president is pursuing this so aggressively.”

In a statement, the Center for Biological Diversity said the administration’s new pledge “uses deceptive accounting to disguise weak reductions that won’t prevent catastrophic warming.” The group added: “Global efforts to prevent catastrophic climate change depend on the United States making much more ambitious cuts to planet-warming pollution.”