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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neeka who wrote (123391)	7/5/2005 1:31:24 PM
From: Neeka	Respond to of 793964

Tuesday, July 5, 2005 - 12:00 AM PETER MACDIARMID / GETTY IMAGES A protester clashed with a policeman yesterday in Edinburgh, Scotland. Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected. Bush says he won't change position on global warming By John Daniszewski and Ron DePasquale Los Angeles Times LONDON — As world leaders prepared for a major summit, President Bush said yesterday that he would not substantially change his stance on global warming to reward British Prime Minister Tony Blair for his support of the war in Iraq. "I really don't view our relationship as one of quid pro quo," Bush said. "Tony Blair made decisions on what he thought was best for keeping the peace and winning the war on terror, as I did." Reiterating his opposition to the Kyoto Protocol that mandates targets for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, Bush told Britain's ITV1 television that he would reject any measures that "look like Kyoto." Although the U.S. is the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, Bush has rejected the treaty because its provisions, he said, would "wreck the U.S. economy." Blair is hosting the Group of Eight summit that begins tomorrow in Gleneagles, Scotland, and he has made fighting climate change and increasing assistance to Africa the top two priorities of the meeting. The annual gathering has in recent years attracted protesters denouncing the Iraq war, globalization and capitalism. Demonstrators clashed with police yesterday on the streets of Edinburgh, the nearest big city to the exclusive golf resort where Bush, Blair and the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia will meet. Thousands of police were being rushed to the area to cope with an expected onslaught of demonstrators. In the days leading up to the summit, aides to Bush have sought to dispel his image as an international cowboy. His administration has announced plans to double development aid to Africa by 2010, although not in the way Blair and other G-8 leaders had proposed. While rejecting any "quid pro quo" on climate change, Bush nevertheless acknowledged that human activity is at least partly behind the apparent warming of the planet in recent years. And he said that there may be other compromises the United States and other nations can make to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases being produced. European leaders have been frustrated that U.S. officials have disputed scientific evidence of accelerated warming and questioned whether the phenomenon poses a real threat to the planet. Asked in the interview whether climate change is "manmade," Bush replied, "To a certain extent it is, obviously." "You know, look, there was a debate of Kyoto, and I made the decision — as did a lot of other people in this country, by the way — that the Kyoto treaty didn't suit our needs. In other words, the Kyoto treaty would have wrecked our economy, if I can be blunt." Bush denied, though, that he was putting U.S. economic interests above the interests of the planet. "My hope is ... to move beyond the Kyoto debate and to collaborate on new technologies that will enable the United States and other countries to diversify away from fossil fuels so that the air will be cleaner and that we have the economic and national security that comes from less dependence of foreign sources of oil," he said. "To that end, we're investing in a lot of ... research on hydrogen-powered automobiles. I believe we'll be able to burn coal without emitting any greenhouse gases," he said, also citing his backing for "more nuclear power." The Kyoto Protocol took effect in February with ratification by 141 countries — including every industrialized nation except Australia and the United States. It aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to roughly 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. In addition to economic concerns, Bush has rejected the pact because of objections to the way it divides emissions cutbacks between developed and undeveloped countries. Lower-ranking government officials involved in the summit planning worked throughout the weekend, hammering out wording on communiques covering both climate change and aid to Africa. Michael Jay, a Foreign Office official, told reporters that the weekend talks had been "pretty intense" and that Britain remained hopeful that a "consensus agreement on climate change" will be signed at Gleneagles. The Financial Times reported yesterday that the eight countries would adopt a joint "action plan" on climate change, although it would stop short of making specific emission-reduction targets. The statement would also contain language referring to a growing consensus among scientists about the problem, the paper said. On the subject of helping Africa, the leaders appear already to have reached an agreement to raise assistance and eliminate debt of the poorest African countries. None of the official actions were likely to satisfy the street protesters who have been gathering in Scotland from around the world in anticipation of the summit. seattletimes.nwsource.com