Prometheus 6

Think again.

Mrs. Merkel’s environmental minister, Sigmar Gabriel, warned that Mr. Bush’s plan might prove to be a “Trojan horse,” impeding her efforts to reach an agreement on an ambitious plan to decrease emissions, while defusing criticism that the United States is a hurdle to the broader climate effort....

Critics also contend that Mr. Bush’s proposal to seek a global deal by the end of 2008 would undermine the role of the United Nations as the main forum for climate negotiations, including the talks that led to the Kyoto Protocol, which required participating industrialized nations to reduce emissions. Convening the largest emitters in the United States would create a parallel round of talks, they said.

Bush hasn't changed a policy since 2001. Not one (Iraq doesn't count because that was taken away from him). His administration has altered scientific reports to the point of falsification and insisted they were objective. There is absolutely no reason to believe him sincere at any point prior to the actual manifestation of his promises.

(James L. Connaughton, the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality said) “People should take a look, give us the benefit of a doubt...It’s the outcome that people should pay the most attention to.”

That bit about the outcome is true.

Bush’s Greenhouse Gas Plan Throws Europe Off Guard
By MARK LANDLER

FRANKFURT, June 1 — For six years, Europeans have pleaded with President Bush to seize the initiative in the campaign against global warming. Now that he has, many here are even more frustrated.

Mr. Bush’s unexpected announcement Thursday that the United States would gather the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases to seek a long-term global reduction in emissions has thrown Washington’s European allies, particularly Germany, off balance.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany will be host next week to the Group of 8 meeting with the leaders of the world’s richest nations, at which she plans to push for much the same goal as Mr. Bush, although her plan would require a sharp reduction in emissions. Mr. Bush’s vaguely worded proposal — which has so far steered clear of such caps — has muddied what had been shaping up as a black-and-white showdown between Europe and the United States.

Mrs. Merkel’s environmental minister, Sigmar Gabriel, warned that Mr. Bush’s plan might prove to be a “Trojan horse,” impeding her efforts to reach an agreement on an ambitious plan to decrease emissions, while defusing criticism that the United States is a hurdle to the broader climate effort.

The news media was notably skeptical. “Bush torpedoes Merkel’s climate plans,” said a representative headline in the German financial paper Handelsblatt.

But for Mrs. Merkel’s chief climate advisor, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Mr. Bush’s plan was a welcome sign that the United States had re-engaged in the debate, even if he disagreed with its approach.

“It’s clearly an indication that the Bush administration wants to contribute to solving the problem,” Mr. Schellnhuber said in an interview. “It’s a steep learning curve, and when you are on a learning curve, you may not come up with the right solution the first time.”

Mrs. Merkel, supported by Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain and other European leaders, wants to set a global target to cut emissions 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. In a draft communiqué for the Group of 8 meeting, German negotiators also propose increasing energy efficiency 20 percent by 2020.

The Bush administration favors a piecemeal approach, in which countries would set their own targets for the next 10 to 20 years to reduce emissions based on their economic circumstances. A long-term “aspirational” global target, decades further out, would be sought based on what countries agreed would be the best way to limit climate risks.