News, June , 2007
|
Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names. |
President Bush at the G-8 Summit: Weakens Global Warming Initiative in Spite of World Pressure
Posted by Stephanie TaylorDNC.org, June 8, 2007 at 02:30 PM
The leaders of the eight largest industrial nations met in Germany this week at the G-8 Summit to address global warming--but President Bush forced them to accept an emissions agreement that was far weaker than they originally intended.
Most European leaders endorsed a plan in which participating nations would reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to half of what they were in 1990.
But Bush argued for "goals" in reductions rather than mandatory reductions.
The other leaders caved, and the final agreement does not mandate reductions in greenhouse gases, which are widely blamed for rising global temperatures. The leaders also agreed to invite major economies like China, India and Brazil to join them in the "goal" of reducing emissions.
The new plan replaces the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
As the New York Times points out, Bush has a long history of "denial and obstructionism" on climate change. The Bush administration even allowed oil-industry lobbyists to edit scientific reports to minimize the threat of global warming.
"A White House official who once led the oil industry’s fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents. Before going to the White House in 2001, he was the 'climate team leader' and a lobbyist at the American Petroleum Institute, the largest trade group representing the interests of the oil industry. A lawyer with a bachelor’s degree in economics, he has no scientific training."
The administration relied almost exclusively on the energy industry for its energy policy recommendations. The final policy was even written from an energy industry "wish list."
"Nine days before George W. Bush was inaugurated, energy lobbyists gathered at the American Petroleum Institute’s offices in downtown Washington. Their agenda: to write a wish list. One participant remembers it fondly. 'The tone was, 'Ok, what do you guys want? You are going to have the ear of this White House'...But many items on that board--and other lists scribbled by other energy lobbyists in other offices around town--found their way into the recommendations that the president will unveil to the nation next week. The API list, in fact, was forwarded to George Bush’s transition team, which sent it to the Interior Department."
As Bush claimed this week that he is "committed" to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a New York Times editorial pointed out one more telling fact:
"His goal is to produce a common strategy in 18 months. This would coincide, roughly speaking, with his departure from public life, suggesting his real goal is to leave the heavy lifting to his successor."
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
||||||
