By Bruce Geiselman
May 31
President Bush today pledged the United States would spearhead an international effort to address global climate change, but environmental advocacy groups immediately voiced skepticism.
Bush, speaking in Washington, unveiled a plan for the United States to convene a meeting between nations that are major emitters of greenhouse gases. Bush said he wants to complete a new framework before the end of 2008 for reducing greenhouse gas emissions after 2012 when the Kyoto protocol expires. The United States refused to ratify the 1997 international agreement.
Bush said it would be essential for nations with rapidly growing economies, including China and India, to participate in talks. Those countries, with rapidly growing energy demands, also have resisted mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
White House spokesmen said the presidentīs proposal would address both energy and economic security by accelerating the development and use of clean energy technologies.
The participating countries would agree to international targets, but each country would achieve its emissions goal by establishing its own programs and interim targets.
The United States would assist other countries by providing them with access to emerging clean energy technologies and eliminating tariffs and other barriers to those technologies. Bush also called on international development banks to make low-cost financing readily available for developing countries.
Bush said the United States has been a leader in developing cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy technologies including solar, wind, nuclear and clean coal technologies.
"In recent years, science has deepened our understanding of climate change and opened new possibilities for confronting it," Bush said. "The United States takes this issue seriously."
Leaders in the environmental movement who have been critical of the Bush administrationīs record on global warming quickly rejected the presidentīs latest proposal.
"This is a transparent effort to divert attention from the presidentīs refusal to accept any emissions reductions proposals at next weekīs G8 summit," said Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust. "After sitting out talks on global warming for years, the Bush administration doesnīt have very much credibility with other governments on this issue."
Leaders of eight of the worldīs largest countries will gather in Germany next week for the G8 summit, which will address numerous issues including global warming.
Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, said the time for talk is over, and he called for immediate action.
"The scientists are clear," Pope said. "We need to cut emissions by 80 percent by 2050, starting now."
Bush said the federal government already has invested $37 billion to climate change related activities since 2001, including spending $12 billion developing cleaner energy sources.
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