Bush Calls for Global Emissions Goals
May 31, 2007Bush Calls for Global Emissions Goals
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, May 31, 2007; 4:10 PM
Thursday, May 31, 2007; 4:10 PM
President Bush today outlined what he described as a new initiative to combat global warming, calling on other nations to work with the United States in setting a long-term goal by the end of 2008 for reductions in greenhouse gases.
In a speech in Washington, Bush signaled a change in tone on global warming ahead of next week's Group of Eight summit meeting in Germany, where the issue is high on the agenda for the gathering of the world's most industrialized nations. But critics promptly complained that Bush's proposal falls short of the urgent action needed to sharply reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and head off potential catastrophe in the future.
The administration's plan involves cutting tariff barriers to the sharing of environmental technology and holding a series of meetings, starting this fall, on ways to limit greenhouse gas emissions by an agreed amount by about 2050. Bush wants this target to be set by the end of 2008.
The White House made clear, however, that the administration would continue to reject proposals advanced by European nations to deal with global warming through caps on carbon emissions and a global carbon-trading program that would allow countries to meet limits on carbon dioxide levels by buying and selling credits.
"We do not endorse global carbon trading," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters before Bush's speech.
European leaders, notably German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have called for measures to limit the rise of global temperatures by effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Addressing the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign, a coalition that advocates robust American foreign aid, Bush indicated a shift in attitude on global warming. He previously has resisted European calls to set specific targets and deadlines for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, insisting that the issue can be addressed chiefly by developing new technology. He continued to stress a need for technological advances today but also indicated that he wants the United States to lead talks on global targets.
"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," Bush said. "In recent years, science has deepened our understanding of climate change and opened new possibilities for confronting it. The United States takes this issue seriously."
He said the "new initiative I am outlining today will contribute to the important dialogue that will take place in Germany next week," at the G-8 summit meeting. "The United States will work with other nations to establish a new framework on greenhouse gas emissions for when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012."
Under the Kyoto Protocol, most industrialized nations have agreed to reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% compared to 1990. The United States has not signed the agreement.
Under his proposal, Bush said, "By the end of next year, America and other nations will set a long-term global goal for reducing greenhouse gases." The goal would be set following a series of meetings among the nations that produce the most greenhouse gases, including "nations with rapidly growing economies like India and China."
Besides agreeing to the long-term global goal, "each country would establish mid-term national targets and programs that reflect their own mix of energy sources and future energy needs," Bush said.
Some Europeans chafed at Bush's attempt to assert U.S. leadership on an issue that Europe has taken a principal role in addressing, Washington Post staff writer Steven Mufson reported. The European Union's cap-and-trade system for letting companies buy and sell allowances for greenhouse gas emissions below a certain ceiling has been in place since January 2005.
"In general we welcome the speech," said a German government official. "For us it is important that all main polluters are on board or are taken on board." But he said he felt "very strongly" that any initiative should be incorporated into the "all-inclusive approach" of the United Nations.
Germany has been trying to find areas of agreement with the Bush administration on climate change for weeks in preparation for the upcoming G-8 summit. In early March, a senior German government official involved in the preparations for the summit lamented that the Bush administration did not want to accept limits on emissions and wanted to confine itself to technology cooperation.
"It sounds to me as a major step forward," said Lars Josefsson, chief executive of Vattenfall, a major European utility based in Sweden. He said Bush's time frame was "realistic" and that the 15 biggest greenhouse gas emitters account for more than 80 percent of world emissions.
"I never expected a real breakthrough next week. That really is premature," said Josefsson, who is also an adviser to German Chancellor Merkel. "The most important message that can come out from the G-8 meeting is that some positive energy flows into the process."
In response to Bush's initiative, Daniel J. Weiss, director of climate strategy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think-tank, charged that Bush was continuing his "do- nothing policy on global warming" despite allies' best efforts to elicit reductions in greenhouse gases.
"At next week's G-8 summit, Germany and our other allies will once again implore him to join them in slashing global warming pollution," Weiss said on the center's Web site. "President Bush's speech today indicates that he will snub them again next week."
Accompanying the allies' pleas have been calls for action by major corporations such as Dow Chemical, Shell, General Electric and General Motors.
"These and other Fortune 500 companies endorsed a 60 percent to 80 percent reduction in global warming pollution by 2050, the level scientists indicate that we must reach to stave off the worst impacts," Weiss said. "Unfortunately, these appeals from his foreign and corporate allies continue to fall on President Bush's deaf ears."
Citing an increase in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by more than 168 million metric tons since Bush became president, Weiss charged, "His faith-based program of voluntary measures to reduce pollution has failed. Meanwhile, every day the planet is closer to a human-made catastrophe of biblical scale."
According to a senior White House official, the administration anticipates "a very intense, very high-level set of discussions" on the long-term goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"We're trying to keep the goal practical," the official said, declining to specify any target for cutting emissions. "We don't want to prejudge that at this time."
The official added, "We want to create a long-term signal that we want to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. . . . It doesn't magically happen overnight. This is hard work."
The issue of targets is complex because "a target for one country may not be the right target for another country," the official said.
Another goal would entail "substantially increasing the uptake of clean technology."
Bush said the deliberations would involve industry leaders in fields such as power generation and transportation, and would result in "a strong and transparent system for measuring each country's performance."
"This new framework would help our nations fulfill our responsibilities under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change," Bush said. "The United States will work with all nations that are part of this convention to adapt to the impacts of climate change, gain access to clean and more energy-efficient technologies and promote sustainable forestry and agriculture."
Bush pointed to federal expenditures of $12 billion in the last six years for "research on clean energy technology" and his policy of reducing projected gasoline consumption in the United States by 20 percent over the next 10 years through mandatory fuel standards. Those standards require 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels by the year 2017.
"We're the world's leader when it comes to figuring out new ways to power our economy and be good stewards of the environment," Bush said. "The United States has taken the lead. And that's the message I'm going to take to the G-8."
He said last week's Energy Department announcement that U.S. carbon emissions fell in 2006 by 1.3 percent while the economy grew by 3.3 percent "shows that a strong and growing economy can deliver both a better life for its people and a cleaner environment at the same time."
He said he would encourage world leaders at next week's summit to increase their investments in research and development.
"We're also going to work to conclude talks with other nations on eliminating tariffs and other barriers to clean energy technologies and services by the end of this year," Bush said.
He also vowed to "help the world's poorest nations reduce emissions by giving them government-developed technologies at low cost or in some case no cost at all."
