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Bush Unyielding on Global Warming He Opposes Numerical Goals on Gases

Posted on: Thursday, 7 July 2005, 12:00 CDT

President George W. Bush vigorously defended his foreign policy Wednesday as he headed toward the summit meeting of the big industrial nations, and he signaled that he would not budge on one of the most contentious issues dividing the United States from its allies: how best to address global warming.

At a news conference with the prime minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Bush sought to rebut widespread criticism in Europe of his administration, including his policy of holding prisoners in the fight against terrorism at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He said the war in Iraq was justified despite public opinion to the contrary, and cast the United States as a leader in confronting poverty and disease in Africa.

He was especially pointed in asserting his view that the other big democracies were going down the wrong path in maintaining their insistence that halting global warming required a commitment to numerical goals for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, host of the Group of 8 summit meeting at the golf resort of Gleneagles in Scotland, has been trying to find some compromise on the issue that would allow the United States to join the other industrial nations in a commitment to taking action against global warming.

[The president, who arrived in Gleneagles late Wednesday, grazed his hands while bicycling around the grounds of the luxury hotel when he collided with a police officer on security duty, Agence France-Presse reported. [The collision occurred about a hour into his ride, with Bush going at a "pretty good speed," said the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan. Bush was bandaged by the White House doctor and his plan to have dinner with Queen Elizabeth II were not affected. [The officer was taken to a hospital as a precaution. McClellan said Bush planned to call him.]

At the news conference in Copenhagen, Bush made a nod to the compromise effort, saying, "I recognize that the surface of the earth is warmer and that an increase in greenhouse gases caused by humans is contributing to the problem."

But Bush made clear that he wanted to depart from the thinking behind the Kyoto protocol, the international agreement on the issue, which he rejected early in his first term. The agreement has been ratified by all the other major economic powers.

"The reason it didn't work for the world is many developing nations weren't included in Kyoto," Bush said. "I've also told our friends in Europe that Kyoto would have wrecked our economy. I don't see how you can be president of the United States and agree to an agreement that would have put a lot of people out of work."

Bush said it was time to move on to a "post-Kyoto era," in which the United States and the other big powers concentrated their efforts on developing technologies that reduce emissions rather than on requiring nations to adhere to what amount to quotas on emissions and higher energy costs.

Denmark has more than 500 troops in Iraq, and Bush came here primarily to thank Rasmussen for sticking by the United States despite what polls here say is strong opposition to the war. Acknowledging that antiwar feeling is "current wisdom these days," Bush added that "following public polls is like chasing your tail" and that in Iraq and elsewhere, "I truly believe we're laying the foundation for peace."

Unprompted, Bush brought up concerns expressed privately to him by Rasmussen about Guantanamo Bay, where the United States is holding prisoners picked up in Afghanistan and in other efforts to combat terrorism, so far without charge or trial.

Bush said that there was "total transparency" at the detention center and that the International Red Cross had been free to inspect the center at any time. To those Europeans skeptical of his assertions, Bush said he would "suggest buying an airplane ticket" and going to "take a look for yourself."

Along with the debate over climate change, aid to Africa will be the other big issue taken up at the summit meeting in Scotland, where Blair and Bush will be joined by their counterparts from France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and Russia.

As on global warming, Bush shares the general goal of his allies regarding Africa, but comes at the problem from a different perspective. He has rebuffed Blair's call for the United States and other countries to commit a larger and specific portion of their national incomes to assisting Africa.

Standing beside Rasmussen, Bush ran through a list of initiatives the United States has sponsored to help alleviate poverty and disease in Africa, including programs to fight malaria and HIV/ AIDS, cut the debts of the poorest nations and increase direct aid.

But Rasmussen gently chided the United States for not doing more.

Source: International Herald Tribune

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