US President Bush, who leaves office in January 2009, is facing elections for the Senate and House in November 2006. Latest opinon polls state that about 70% of US citizens feel that global warming is happening.
So, is it time for an u-turn?
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP) Strategic Plan 20th Sep, 2006 and addresses “not just climate change, but energy security, air pollution, and other pressing needs”.
One of Mr Bush’s first acts on the international scene as president was to not ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Consequently a search for the word ‘Kyoto’ in the 243 pages strong CCTP leads to 2 single occurrences as footnote.
But the United States ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on October 15, 1992, and it entered into force for the United States on March 21, 1994 under President Bill Clinton.
And that’s what the Strategic Plan highlights in the summary:
United States’ climate change goals are consistent with and supportive of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which set an ultimate goal of stabilizing greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere at a level that avoids dangerous human interference with the climate system.
Now - 12 years later - is it the right time to honor Mr. Bill Clinton’s work?
tompaine.com: White House v. Climate Change.
brazzil.com: Forget Bush! Brazil Should Wholeheartedly Embrace Kyoto
thinkprogress.org: Bush Administration Announces Half-Baked Climate Change Plan.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
