President unswayed on climate accord
By Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff, 6/15/2001
G OTEBORG, Sweden - President Bush stared down international opposition
to his views on global warming yesterday during his first meeting with
European Union allies, refusing to bend on the Kyoto treaty he has resolved to
abandon.
EU leaders pledged to move forward with the international climate change
agreement without US support, setting the stage for a protracted diplomatic
dispute. And as thousands of demonstrators gathered in the streets of the seaport
city where the meeting took place, Bush appeared little closer to bridging the
ideological gap between the continents than at the start of his five-day trip.
More than 200 people were arrested, and some protesters, throwing bottles and
shouting, clashed with police at a nearby high school where police sought to contain
them. Most of the protests were peaceful, however. Bush's advisers said the
president was aware that demonstrations were taking place, but they described it
as a normal part of the modern presidency, noting that demonstrators now appear
at almost every major gathering of heads of state.
He hopes to showcase his enthusiasm for US-European ties in a wide-ranging
speech today in Warsaw, aides said, in which he will declare the importance of
guaranteeing that Europe is ''whole and free.''
Yesterday, Bush emphasized the areas where the two regions do agree, especially
trade. But the message was largely drowned out by the expected disagreements
over the environment and the Kyoto Protocol, which have crystallized into a
symbol of tensions between Europe and the United States.
Prime Minister Goeran Persson of Sweden, the nation that now holds the
presidency of the EU, described the US withdrawal from the treaty as a major
setback, saying he regretted that European leaders would be forced to pursue the
agreement on their own. Although the announcement was not new, it appeared to
cement the standoff between the two sides.
''It will have a tremendous impact, sorry to say, because it would have sent an
extremely strong signal if the US had stuck with the Kyoto protocol,'' Persson said
of Bush's decision. Other EU officials said they held out hope for compromise
down the road, but as yet, no one has proposed a viable alternative to the treaty
negotiated in Japan in 1997.
Bush, sounding confident about his official European debut on the third day
overseas, said he would seek ''new channels of cooperation'' on global warming.
''We don't agree on the Kyoto treaty, but we do agree that climate change is a
serious issue and we must work together,'' he said.
Bush has called the treaty ''fatally flawed,'' pledging to base his own policy on
''sound science'' to be gained by further research.
White House officials were equally upbeat, undaunted by the noisy streets and the
dissent inside the meeting over one of the many issues discussed.
''For all the to-ing and fro-ing, this is a critical aspect of restarting the dialogue,
because Kyoto wasn't going to go anywhere in the United States or many other
countries,'' US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said. White House
spokesman Ari Fleischer said the meetings, including the less formal luncheon, were
''very cordial ... a very nice atmosphere.''
Bush, Fleischer said, indicated to the other leaders that ''we must work together
even when we disagree, and will always do so in a spirit of cooperation.''
There were no surprises at the 15-nation meeting at Gunnebo Slott, a mansion
outside Goteborg, where the leaders also discussed security issues, human rights
concerns, and AIDS in Africa. The United States and EU leaders agreed to move
toward a new round of global trade talks in November. The two sides have been
wrangling over several issues, notably EU fears that Washington will block steel
imports and European opposition to importing genetically modified foods.
They also renewed their commitment to peacekeeping missions in the Balkans.
Neither side was surprised when differences arose on the environment; Bush's trip
to Europe has been cast largely as a ceremonial first visit designed to deepen his
personal relationship with other heads of state, not as a time to hammer out detailed
policies.
After a group dinner with his EU colleagues last night, Bush planned to travel today
to Poland, a destination chosen in part to illustrate the circumstances of post-Cold
War Europe.
He travels tomorrow morning to Slovenia, where he will hold his first meeting with
Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two are expected to focus on a proposed
US missile defense shield and the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty binding the
two countries, which Bush would like to discard.
Each day of the trip has had its own policy controversy, and yesterday's was the
environment - an issue that has taken on unusual political significance for Bush
during his first six months as president. From his appointment of Gale Norton, a
conservative Republican, as Interior Secretary, to his abandonment of mandatory
caps for carbon dioxide emissions, to his energy policy calling for drilling for new
oil, Bush's positions have prompted repeated outcries from US environmentalists -
and he is being portrayed abroad as a fierce anti-environmentalist.
He has tried recently to combat that image, most recently with an announcement
Monday that he would take a leading role on global warming, as long as it did not
include Kyoto. But the EU roundly rejected the offer, and the sides did not appear
to have moved closer after the meeting yesterday.
The Kyoto treaty can be ratified without US support, although it would require the
backing of both Russia and Japan. President Clinton, despite his encouragement of
the talks that produced the treaty, did not push for its passage at home following a
95-0 vote in the Senate condemning it. The issue is particularly explosive in
Sweden, an environmentally activist nation even on the spectrum of left-of-center
European governments.
That was one reason, officials believe, that the demonstrations flourished here
yesterday, as more than 9,000 descended on the outdoor plaza near the Radisson
Hotel where Bush was staying to sing and chant in protest.
One group of teenagers staged a ''mooning'' session, pulling their pants down in the
direction of the hotel as part of a staged 4 p.m. demonstration. Another group
carried a giant papier-mache version of Bush's head, chanting, ''Bush go home!''
''I think he's turning back the clock 30, 40 years in less than six months,'' said
Herve Corvellec, 40, who brought his 13-year-old daughter to the protest. ''It
makes you wonder what will come out in the next 31/2 years, especially from
someone whose legitimacy in the popular vote is weak.''
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 6/15/2001. |
