Bush trades global-warming concerns for energy profits
" And so, too, is Bush's treatment of this nation's allies. During his campaign for the presidency, Bush promised to strengthen relations with our friends abroad- relationships he claimed had been weakened by Bill Clinton's
mismanagement of foreign affairs. But instead of making good on this
commitment, Bush has put the short-term interests of his energy-industry
cronies ahead of the nation's long-term foreign-policy concerns."
By DeWayne Wickham
At the beginning of the last century, Theodore Roosevelt sent 16 battleships
on an around-the-world cruise. His ''gunboat diplomacy'' awakened the world
to this nation's military might and signaled the end to a century of American
isolationism.
Last week, George W. Bush -- another GOP president -- started to rebuild
the walls of ''fortress America'' when he announced the withdrawal of this
nation's support for the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce
the worldwide emissions of the greenhouse gases that are thought to cause
global warming.
Bush's decision is ''smokestack diplomacy.'' In rescinding the backing the
Clinton administration had given the Kyoto treaty -- which has strong support
among this nation's European allies -- Bush said the reductions in
carbon-dioxide emissions required by the agreement would hurt the U.S.
economy.
That sounds more like an excuse than a reason.
Unemployment last month was a paltry 4.2%. Since February of last year, 1.8
million jobs have been created in this country, indicating that the U.S.
economy remains strong at its core. Bush's opposition to the Kyoto Protocol
understandably riles much of the rest of the world, as well as many in this
country. While the United States is home to approximately 6% of the globe's
population, it produces 25% of the greenhouse gases that are causing
dangerous shifts in the world's climate. Bush's ''to-hell-with-them'' approach
to the worries other nations have about the impact of our gluttonous
production of greenhouse gases is a narrow-minded retreat into a new era of
isolationism -- one that is defined not by disengagement but political
chauvinism.
Bush's abandonment of the Kyoto Protocol followed an announcement that
he will break his campaign promise to force power plants to reduce their
carbon-dioxide emissions. Bush said his reversal is driven by a looming
energy crisis; but it's more likely a reward to the coal industry that helped him win the Democratic stronghold of West Virginia in the presidential election.
When it comes to the fruits of his victory, Bush is more inclined to place the interests of his corporate supporters ahead of the voters. That' sunderstandable, given that most people who went to the polls cast their ballots for Democrat Al Gore.
And so, too, is Bush's treatment of this nation's allies. During his campaign for the presidency, Bush promised to strengthen relations with our friends abroad- relationships he claimed had been weakened by Bill Clinton's
mismanagement of foreign affairs. But instead of making good on this
commitment, Bush has put the short-term interests of his energy-industry
cronies ahead of the nation's long-term foreign-policy concerns.
Rather than lead this nation by telling people of the need to reduce the
greenhouse gases we produce now so the world won't be wracked by
calamitous climate changes later, Bush resorts to isolationist rhetoric and
action. Instead of worrying about the devastating effects the uncontrolled
emission of greenhouse gases will have in the 21st century, Bush circles his
wagons in defense of the 20th century energy-production techniques thatbelch poisonous gases in the atmosphere.
Friday, the Bush administration dug in its heels deeper by rebuffing a call by
Latin American countries for industrialized nations to cut their production of
greenhouse gases -- a decision that no doubt strained relations with those
nations. But the more troubling damage done by Bush's bad environmental
policies is to our relationship with our European allies, which, in this
post-Cold War era, are less likely to give the United States blind allegiance --
or accept its political slights.
What passes for an environmental policy in the Bush administration is actually a plan to expand the profits of domestic energy companies at the risk of a worldwide climate catastrophe. These temperature changes, in the long run, pose a greater threat to Americans than the economic turndown that Bush pretends to fear.
DeWayne Wickham writes weekly for USA TODAY.
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