President George W. Bush鈥檚 statement that he will not force US coal-fired power plants to reduce carbon dioxide output has been condemned around the world as a major blow to international negotiations on climate change.
The announcement dashed hopes that the US might soften its opposition to an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
鈥淚t certainly looks like a complete rejection. I don鈥檛 see that it leaves a lot of room for negotiations with the rest of the world,鈥� says Daniel A. Lashof, a senior scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a Washington DC environmental pressure group.
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In a letter to Republican Senators, Bush reversed his election campaign promise to limit CO2 emissions from coal-fired plants, saying a shows it would be too expensive. He also reiterated his opposition to the Kyoto protocol, a 1997 agreement which aims to reduce greenhouse gases in the industrialised countries by 5.2 per cent by 2012.
Industry groups have applauded Bush鈥檚 decision. 鈥淭rapping CO2 and at the same time increasing the nation鈥檚 energy supply were incompatible with each other. This decision should allow us to focus on doing the thing we can do in a common sense way,鈥� says Frank Maisano, a spokesman for the Global Climate Coalition, an industry pressure group in Washington, DC.
Number one
But Bush鈥檚 U-turn was a blow to Kyoto supporters, since limits on power plants are probably necessary for the US to reach the goals. Christopher Flavin, President of the Worldwatch Institute says: 鈥淚t is essential, since those plants are one of the main reasons for the recent sharp increase in US CO2 emissions. In the last two years, the US has passed China to be the world鈥檚 number one coal burner.鈥�
Bush鈥檚 statement marked a change of direction, since the administration had earlier showed signs of softening its stance on Kyoto.
In a meeting of the G8 environment ministers in Trieste earlier this month, US Environmental Protection Agency head Christine Todd Whitman promised to 鈥渓ook at everything that鈥檚 on the table鈥�. That was seen as progress after November鈥檚 talks at The Hague collapsed with no agreement, due to a disagreement between a US-led contingent and the European Union.
鈥淯nfair and ineffective鈥�
Bush has defended his decision, saying: 鈥淚 was responding to realities and the reality is our nation has a real problem when it comes to energy.鈥� In his letter, Bush called Kyoto 鈥渁n unfair and ineffective means of addressing global climate change concerns鈥�.
He also questioned whether any action was necessary, saying there is 鈥渁n incomplete state of scientific knowledge of the causes of, and solutions to, global climate change鈥�.
But his statement has been heavily criticised around the world. The European Union environment commissioner Margot Wallstrom expressed concern, as did the French environment minister and officials at Japan鈥檚 environment ministry.
The next major round of talks will take place in Bonn, Germany in July.