Climate control? What's that?

[sobrique]

Link filched from deathboy
New US move to spoil climate accord

Extraordinary efforts by the White House to scupper Britain's attempts to tackle global warming have been revealed in leaked US government documents obtained by The Observer.

These papers - part of the Bush administration's submission to the G8 action plan for Gleneagles next month - show how the United States, over the past two months, has been secretly undermining Tony Blair's proposals to tackle climate change.

The documents obtained by The Observer represent an attempt by the Bush administration to undermine completely the science of climate change and show that the US position has hardened during the G8 negotiations. They also reveal that the White House has withdrawn from a crucial United Nations commitment to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions.

The documents show that Washington officials:

· Removed all reference to the fact that climate change is a 'serious threat to human health and to ecosystems';

· Deleted any suggestion that global warming has already started;

· Expunged any suggestion that human activity was to blame for climate change.

Among the sentences removed was the following: 'Unless urgent action is taken, there will be a growing risk of adverse effects on economic development, human health and the natural environment, and of irreversible long-term changes to our climate and oceans.'

... (article continues) ...

This disturbs me. The US may be the economic powerhouse of the world, but surely there's some prices that are just too high?

Comments

[jorune.livejournal.com]

Two thoughts:

If the US admits it is changing its mind on climate then it must its turn back on unfettered capitalism. There would be have to be higher costs on the consumer and the corporations who fund the Party in Power, Republican or Democrat. I do not believe the US govt is ready for this. It would be a huge political shift. For US politicians this would represent a great loss of face and hurt pride. At the height of their power, who would imagine them surrending to common sense?

Secondly, there are many different voices in the US political scene. This could be the work of one lobbyist as opposed to White House approved policy.

Sanctions

[(Anonymous)]

What this really needs is enough countries to get to gether and decide to do something about america. Last stats I saw about the amount of greenhouse gases released per person america's amount was hugely bigger than anyone elses (I can't remember how much)

This quite frankly scares me. According to the last figures I saw, I will live to be effected by major climate change (assuming no major accidents or ilnesses) and my son will almost definitly live to see it. the fact that this can be speeded up by just one bull headed country is unbelievable to me.

out of interest what do people think the rest of the world could do to convince america. would economic sanctions work?

Peter

Re: Sanctions

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

Economic sanctions, unfortunately, would cause an _awful_ lot of harm to world economies.

America really is one of the economic powerhouses, and a major trade partner with ... well lots of people.

The problem you've got is one of apathy. At the moment, they're ok.

Telling everyone who drives a fuel monster in the US that they're going to have to pay more for their fuel, or replace their car, or whatever, is going to be hugely unpopular. As are any 'environment control' measures.

The question is always 'so who's gonna pay for that' - and the truth is, the president who introduces that sort of legislation will lose the next election. (Not to mention the rather large amounts of 'financial support' that they get from ecologically insensitive industries such as oil companies)

[mrph.livejournal.com]

"after the last tree is felled, Christ will come back." - James Watt, Reagan's Secretary of the Interior

Why look after the environment when the Rapture is on the way, hmm?

[malal.livejournal.com]

That quote scares the crap out of me. It doesn't suprise me though...

[mrph.livejournal.com]

There are some... less well documented... ones that bluntly say "who cares, the rapture is coming" and "God put the world here for us to use, so we're using it", but that one's on the record and unarguable.

Scares the hell out of me. Yup.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Somebody posted a link to something, it may have been in the Guardian, that mayors of many cities in the US including Salt Lake City and N'Orleans were taking on the task of reducing CO₂ emissions to levels that were recommended at (I think) Kyoto, despite the nation's leaders refusing to tell them to.

[pinkzhazha.livejournal.com]

common all you sillies.

Don't know know that polution and enviromental damage all stop "outside" the USA borders?