Dec. 18

Congressional Democrats and at least one Republican are relieved U.S. negotiators finally yielded at the just-concluded United Nations climate talks -- even though the reversal came at the eleventh hour.

"In Bali, the president tried to treat the world the way he treats Congress, my way or the highway," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. "The difference is that in Congress he has supporters, but in Bali he had no supporters."

U.S. representatives drew boos and sharp rebukes for their lack of cooperation during two weeks of drama in Indonesia. But some of those jeers turned to cheers Dec. 15 when Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky agreed to adopt what´s being called the "Bali Roadmap." In its simplest form, it requires world leaders to flesh out a more effective and inclusive successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol by 2009.

Boxer was one of 15 senators to sign a Dec. 10 letter telling U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer to take heart because of recent congressional action to combat global climate change.

De Boer had joined the thousands of delegates from almost 190 countries gathered in Bali. Kyoto, which expires in 2012, dictates that signers from 37 industrial nations curb emissions of carbon dioxide and five other gases blamed for global warming by roughly 5 percent below 1990 levels in the next five years.

"We feel that forestalling catastrophic global climate change requires the United States to begin emerging now as a leading participant in the post-2012 international effort to reduce global warming pollution worldwide," reads a section of the Dec. 10 letter signed by 13 Democrats and two Independents. "Fortunately, we can report to you and the conference delegates in Bali that the federal government in Washington is finally moving forward on global warming policy."

The letter, also signed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, highlights the Dec. 5 vote to advance a cap-and-trade climate change bill to the Senate floor. Boxer´s panel, the Environment and Public Works Committee, approved the landmark measure authored by Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn. The 38-year, economy wide measure introduces a cap-and-trade system covering major polluters -- power plants, transportation and factories.

Caps would begin at the 2005 emissions level in 2012, with a goal of reducing emissions 65 to 70 percent by 2050.

Though letter-signer John Kerry, D-Mass., made a whirlwind trip to Bali, most of his cohorts remained on U.S. soil tending to a crush of pre-winter recess Capitol Hill legislation.

Australia signed Kyoto in early December, leaving the United States as the lone holdout among major industrialized nations. President Bush has long rejected specific targets, instead maintaining that voluntary action is preferable.

Scientific reports note that the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has ballooned from 280 parts per million to 380 ppm since the onset of the Industrial Revolution. A level of 450 ppm, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and others have warned, would raise the temperature enough to boost sea levels and cause more severe droughts, floods and storms.

"The news from Bali is that the nations of the world reached consensus on a path forward, and the door has been left open to a serious agreement with mandatory reductions in global warming emissions," Boxer said. "Thankfully, at the last minute, (Bush) relented, and we now have a chance to resume our environmental leadership."

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