Climate control? What's that?
Jun. 20th, 2005 03:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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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 They also reveal that the White House has withdrawn from a crucial United Nations commitment to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions.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?
deathboyNew 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 They also reveal that the White House has withdrawn from a crucial United Nations commitment to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions.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?
Sanctions
Date: 2005-06-20 04:00 pm (UTC)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
Date: 2005-06-20 04:46 pm (UTC)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)