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US senators push Bush on climate
Almost
a quarter of the US Senate has written to President George Bush urging
him to join UN talks on climate change currently taking place in
Canada.Among the 24 senators to sign the open letter were Democrat
Hilary Clinton and leading Republican John McCain.
It comes at a key
stage of the Montreal conference, where the US delegation has been
blocking proposals to start formal talks on how to tackle global
warming.The current targets within the Kyoto Protocol will expire in
2012.
The US – the world’s biggest emitter of green house gases –
withdrew its signature from Kyoto in 2001, saying it was flawed and
costly to introduce.
Global action
The senators’ open letter to
the White House calls for a change of tack, describing climate change
as one of the most pressing issues facing humankind.It urges the Bush
administration to fulfil what the senators say is a legal obligation to
play a constructive role in talks about global action to combat climate
change beyond 2012.
CLIMATE CHANGE EXPLAINED
“The US should, at a
minimum, refrain from blocking or obstructing such discussions… since
it would be inconsistent with its ongoing treaty obligations,” it
says.Last week, chief US negotiator Harlan Watson said he was opposed
to any negotiation about imposing Kyoto-style limits on US emissions.
In
recent months the mayors of almost 200 US cities, including New York,
have signed an agreement designed to protect the climate in the face of
Mr Bush’s withdrawal from Kyoto.
The White House has since 2002
embarked on a voluntary policy to reduce US emissions through new
technology. It argues that binding limits would harm the US economy.The
Kyoto accord came into force earlier this year, seven years after it
was signed in 1997. It requires industrialised nations to cut their
emissions of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and other gases blamed for warming
the planet.
Some 156 countries have ratified the treaty, which pledges to reduce global emissions by 5.2% by 2012.
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