George W Bush unveiled the details of his contribution to global warming in an address to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday.In a spark of brilliance, he made no promises to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, but instead set a national target of reducing by 18% the amount of greenhouse gases the country produces for every unit of GDP.
An article published by The New York Times on February 16 summarized it very well:
"205That the policy demands little from the American people, while insulting allies who have agreed to take tough steps to deal with the problem, only adds to one's sense of dismay.
The White House described Mr. Bush's strategy as aggressive and bold. The only thing bold about it are accounting tactics worthy of Enron that are designed to make an increase in emissions look like a decrease205"
Here is the reply from the President that was not to be, Al Gore, who clearly shows a more "presidential" thinking here:
"I am also particularly troubled by his plan from a national security perspective. It is now more than abundantly clear that our country is dangerously dependent on oil. A strong policy on climate change would lessen that dangerous dependence and move us to a clean and safe energy future. By contrast, this policy, like the Administration plans to drill in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, keep us tied to the dangerous global oil politics that pose a grave threat to our national well-being.
The United States can and should lead the world to a clean technology future. Unfortunately this plan abdicates the responsibility instead of accepting it. A strong plan of action on climate change would stimulate the development of new transportation, power and manufacturing technologies and enable American companies to lead the world in capturing markets for those technologies. A weak policy like the one announced today, without binding requirements for greenhouse gas pollution reductions, makes it vastly harder for American companies to compete. And that's part of the reason why many business leaders have joined environmentalists in calling for the certainty and clarity that binding targets would provide. "
