Bush firm on warming treaty
By Joseph Curl
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
GOTEBORG, Sweden -- President Bush yesterday stood firm on
his rejection of a restrictive global warming treaty, telling European
leaders "the goals weren´t realistic" and asking the 15 presidents and
prime ministers why their own countries have not ratified the pact.
As protesters and riot policed
clashed near the venue of a summit
between the United States and the
European Union, Mr. Bush pledged to
work toward reducing emissions of
gases that some scientists say cause
global warming -- but not under the
restraints of the pact known as the
Kyoto Protocol or treaty.
"We didn´t feel like the Kyoto treaty
was well-balanced. It didn´t include
developing nations. The goals were
not realistic. However, that doesn´t mean we cannot continue to work
together, and will work together, on reducing greenhouse gases," Mr.
Bush said to about 200 international reporters at the Massan
Convention Center.
In the diplomatic atmosphere, Swedish Prime Minister Goran
Persson said Europe would simply have to accept the U.S. position
on Kyoto, which commits industrialized countries to reducing
greenhouse-gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2012.
"So to say, we agree to disagree about substance, according to
the Kyoto Protocol," said Mr. Persson, who is serving as president of
the EU. "The European Union will stick to the Kyoto Protocol and go
for a ratification process. The U.S. has chosen another policy."
But to a small group of reporters afterward, Mr. Persson criticized
Mr. Bush´s decision.
"It will have a tremendous impact, sorry to say, because it would
have sent an extremely strong signal if the U.S. had stuck with the
Kyoto Protocol."
But Sweden -- as well as the other 14 nations in the union -- has
never ratified the 1997 treaty. When Mr. Bush was asked whether
European leaders, who have raked the U.S. president for abandoning
a treaty passed by only one of its 187 signatory countries, he turned
the tables on his host, EU Commission Chairman Romano Prodi.
"I think that´s a good question for President Prodi. ... I would be
interested in your answer," he said to laughter.
Mr. Prodi, fumbling a bit, defended the 4-year old pact, saying
"there is no one single country who has declared not to ratify it."
"The ratification process will start soon, and it started already in
some countries, it´s going on, and there is no one message until now
of refusal or delay of ratification," the Italian leader said.
European leaders have been fiercely critical of Mr. Bush´s decision
to abandon the treaty. A day before Mr. Bush arrived in Brussels to
attend his first NATO meeting, EU environment ministers rejected his
latest initiatives to study climate change, calling them short on
action.
While Mr. Bush said the United States would go its own way on
global warming, he said "the United States is committed to
addressing climate change."
"We had a constructive discussion on this topic over lunch, and
we agreed to create new channels of cooperation on this important
topic. As the prime minister said, we don´t agree on the Kyoto treaty,
but we do agree that climate change is a serious issue and we must
work together. We agree that climate change requires a global
response, and agree to intensify cooperation on science and on
technology."
Even before Mr. Bush´s rejection, the treaty had a rough history in
the United States. President Clinton had said he supported the pact
but never sent it to the Senate. On its own, the Senate unanimously
rejected the accord in a symbolic vote.
During closed-door meetings with EU leaders, Mr. Bush discussed
liberalization of trade and the AIDS epidemic in Africa. The leaders
also discussed solutions to the crises in the Middle East and
Macedonia.
As Mr. Bush attended the summit, mounted riot police sealed off a
nearby high school serving as headquarters for several
anti-globalization groups. Officers moved in after protesters blocked
a patrol car on school grounds Wednesday night, raising suspicions
that some of them were plotting violence, one officer said.
Some demonstrators hurled bottles and stones at police who were
preventing them from converging on the European Union summit
venue.
Last night, more than 10,000 demonstrators protested against Mr.
Bush and globalization at rallies throughout Goteborg, Sweden´s
second-largest city. About 200 were arrested, police said.
Mr. Bush travels to Warsaw today, where he will deliver what
aides have been touting for days as a "major" speech. The president
yesterday gave a preview of what he will say in the former
Soviet-bloc country.
"I believe that we have an opportunity to form an alliance of
peace, that Europe ought to include nations beyond the current
scope of EU and NATO. I strongly believe in NATO expansion, and I
believe that the EU ought to expand as well," he said.
Tomorrow, Mr. Bush wraps up his five-day, five-country trip with
a stop in Slovenia, where he will meet for the first time with President
Vladimir Putin of Russia, which opposes nations near its borders
joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
"It´s at a very important time for me to visit with Mr. Putin, to
assure him a couple of things," Mr. Bush said yesterday. "One,
Russia is not the enemy of the United States; two, the Cold War is
over and the mentality that used to grip our two nations during the
Cold War must end; three, we look forward to working with Europe."
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