Bush offers to take climate lead
WASHINGTON — On the eve of a major international summit, President Bush proposed Thursday that the United States and the other nations that produce most of the gases responsible for global warming initiate a campaign to limit emissions and set long-term goals for reductions.
The president, who is leaving Monday for a weeklong European trip built around the meeting of the Group of 8 industrialized nations, unveiled a proposal to set an international course to fight global warming, calling for an attack based on clean-environment technology, efficient use of fuel and the conservation of forests, which absorb carbon dioxide.
"The United States takes this issue seriously," Bush said.
The president has long been criticized for inaction on what is now widely seen as one of the most critical issues facing the world. He has rejected limits on emissions, which might hurt industries, and the Kyoto Protocol, which calls for emissions to return to 1990 levels by 2012.
Bush's announcement follows his imposition Tuesday of sanctions intended to pressure Sudan to stem the violence in Darfur and his call Wednesday to dramatically increase U.S. spending on HIV/AIDS. Taken together, the actions -- in a slow news week with Congress in recess -- suggested a burst of administration energy directed at some of the most troublesome international issues.
On Thursday, neither the president nor senior administration officials presented specific goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Such targets would be set in the next 18 months -- a period that would run one month past the election to choose his successor.
As he has before, Bush emphasized technological innovation as the solution. "We need to harness the power of technology to help nations meet their growing energy needs while protecting the environment and addressing the challenge of global climate change," he said.
Some of his most persistent critics praised him for taking on the issue. But they also expressed skepticism, saying that mandatory limits on emissions were the only way to turn around the growing release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for causing Earth's temperature to rise.
"Gathering the world's largest emitters to discuss global warming is a good idea," said David B. Sandalow, a scholar at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution think tank who dealt with environmental issues at the National Security Council and the State Department during the Clinton administration. "However, relying on voluntary targets for a problem as serious as global warming is a bad idea."
