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Bush rebuffs Kyoto outcryLONDON, England -- U.S. President George W. Bush says he will not back down to international pressure over his decision to shun the Kyoto Treaty on global warming. Bush said: "I will not accept a plan that will harm our economy and hurt our workers." He said he will be "explaining this today" to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who is meeting the president for the first time in Washington. But Bush said he would work with Germany and other U.S. allies to devise a plan that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to global climate change.
Schroeder was expected to take Bush to task over his stance on the Kyoto issue, which has caused worldwide dismay. His spokesman said: "The chancellor will explain the European position. We hope the Americans will change their mind, because we Europeans think we have the better arguments." The President reaffirmed his tough line on greenhouse gas emissions at his second solo press conference in the White House since taking office in January. Under the 1997 treaty, the major powers agreed to cut the emissions, which result mainly from burning coal and oil, by an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Environmental activists say the U.S. has just six percent of the world's total population yet produces a quarter of the globe's carbon dioxide. Italy became the latest nation to slam President Bush for shunning the Kyoto Protocol. Environment Minister Willer Bordon called Bush's decision "extremely grave" and urged European governments to react. Italy thought it had brokered a deal among the world's most industrialised countries at a summit of G8 ministers in Trieste earlier this month when they pledged to finalise the Kyoto pact. "International agreements cannot be discarded or made secondary to national politics," Bordon said. "The United States' rejection of the Kyoto protocol should be denounced, and in a formal manner."
Bordon urged European governments and the European Union to put diplomatic pressure on the U.S. to ensure President Bush sticks to the Kyoto accord. If Bush still refused to comply, then "counter-measures should be brought to bear," he added. European Union Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem said: "This isn't some marginal environmental issue that can be ignored or played down. It has to do with trade and economics." While stressing it was too soon to discuss "tactics to punish the United States," Wallstroem said she will go to Washington next week with an EU delegation to seek clarification of the Bush administration's position.
British Environment Minister Michael Meacher said Kyoto "was signed up to by every single nation on earth, and if America now tries to walk away ... I think this is not just an environmental issue, it's an issue of transatlantic global foreign policy." Australian Environment Minister Robert Hill said the collapse of the Kyoto protocol would be "a major step backwards." Japan said on Thursday that it will urge the U.S. to rethink its position. "In terms of the effectiveness of the Kyoto protocol, the U.S. participation is crucial," Yasuko Ishii of the environment ministry said. The Kyoto agreement was signed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton but never introduced to the Senate for ratification. The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES:
EU and Bush in climate talks RELATED SITES:
Kyoto climate summit |
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