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9:21:00 PM EDT
The G8 and Climate Change: Better Than Nothing
United States Compromises: Last week the Group of Eight industrialized nations met in Germany and agreed to a compromise of sorts on the issue of climate change. U.S. President George Bush agreed to "consider seriously" a strategy backed by the European Union, Canada and Japan to cut worldwide greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2050. He also agreed that the "U.N. climate process is the appropriate forum for negotiating future action on climate change." In return, the other G8 leaders agreed to engage the major emitting nations (mainly China and India, but also Brazil, Mexico and South Africa) and welcomed Bush's offer to host a meeting of the major energy-using and greenhouse-gas-emitting nations later this year.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel hailed it as a victory. (See Reuters article about how she engineered the agreement.) Even though Bush didn't agree to specific cuts or mandatory emission limits, I think it is a step forward. As the New York Times noted in its coverage, "the Bush administration has agreed for the first time to take part in negotiations to develop a new global agreement on climate policy by 2009." That is significant, to be sure, although the United States remains the world's largest emitter of gases that are warming the planet, and as such we should lead the way by committing to emissions cuts.
Is this latest G8 agreement significant? Post your thoughts here. (See the G8 Summit Declaration)
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Hey dan, It is getting close to having scientific proof as more tests are being done on Tuesday. Even George W. will be able to understand the results. Take care, Bob
7/8/07 10:12 AM