Subject:  Europe Spooked by Bush's U-Turn on CO2 Limits (guru).
Date:     Sun, 18 Mar 2001 112349 -0600
From:     Roy Beavers 
To:       guru 
--------------------------------------------------

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Hi folks:

The article below reports that Europeans are "spooked" by the
about-face that President Bush is taking -- by backing away 
from his campaign promise to advance the regulation of carbon
dioxide, one of the emissions from factories (including 
electrical generating plants) that contributes heavily to the 
global warming effect.

Surely the readers of this list will not be surprised!  

Here on EMF-L, (I hope) you have learned enough about the ACTUAL 
political system in the U.S. to realize that American politicians 
ONLY feel the need to keep the campaign promises that they make 
to those who FUND their candidacy!!!!  

They have no need -- and feel no responsibility -- to keep the 
OTHER campaign promises!!!!

   "My theory used to be that we get the government we deserve.
   Bad as we are, though, I don't think we are THAT bad. Right
   now, I'm taking a long look at the notion that God hates us."
           .......Mark Twain

http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2001/2001L-03-16-01.html

Cheerio.......

Roy Beavers (EMFguru)

roy@emfguru.com          WEBSITE -- http://emfguru.com
FAX:  (USA) 417-588-1825

It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.....

PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT
          THAN PROFIT$$$$$

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
                                          ........Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
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Europe Spooked by Bush's U-Turn on CO2 Limits


COPENHAGEN, Denmark, March 16, 2001 (ENS) - U.S. President George =
W. Bush has spread gloom through Europe's climate change community by aba=
ndoning an election campaign promise to limit the carbon dioxide (CO2) em=
issions from fossil fueled utilities and reiterating his opposition to th=
e United Nations Kyoto Protocol.

U.S. President George =
W. Bush (Photo courtesy George Bush 2000)

The President's change of heart on power plants and CO2 is revealed in a =
letter this week to four congressmen. Carbon dioxide should not be contro=
lled under a draft law aimed at cutting emissions of sulphur dioxide, nit=
rogen oxides and mercury, Bush writes, because it is not defined as a pol=
lutant under the U.S. Clean Air Act.

Furthermore, Bush writes, utilities would increase prices "at a time of r=
ising energy prices and a serious energy shortage." =


"Without U.S. leadership, effective global action on climate change may n=
ot be possible," said Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Progra=
mme (UNEP) on Thursday. "The United States of America has much to gai=
n from leading the way into the new low emissions economy of the 21st cen=
tury," he said.


Toepfer, a former German environment minister, was speaking in Copenhagen=
 after discussing climate change issues with Svend Auken, Denmark=92s min=
ister of the environment, who shares the concern of UNEP over the lack of=
 U.S. leadership. Toepfer is in Denmark to celebrate the 10th anniversary=
 of UNEP=92s collaborating center on energy and the environment. =


UNEP Executive Dire=
ctor Klaus Toepfer (Photo courtesy Earth Negotiations Bulletin)
Talks on the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement that would limit =
emissions of CO2 and five other greenhouse gases linked to global warming=
, broke down in November, in the last months of the administration of U.S=
=2E President Bill Clinton. The Clinton administration had been working w=
ith the international community to find ways of cutting emissions without=
 damaging industrial productivity such as development of renewable energy=
 technologies.

President Bush, a former oilman, took office January 20, promising to rea=
ssess all of the Clinton administration's climate policies.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, 39 industrialized nations agreed to cut their e=
missions of six greenhouse gases linked to global warming. They must redu=
ce emissions to an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 levels during the fi=
ve year period 2008 to 2012. The emissions of developing nations will be =
controlled by subsequent negotiations under the climate treaty.

The Kyoto Protocol has been signed by the United States and most other na=
tions, but it will not take effect until it is ratified by 55 percent of =
the nations emitting at least 55 percent of the six greenhouse gases. =


Since the United States emits roughly one-quarter of all greenhouse gases=
 released into the atmosphere, ratification by the United States is consi=
dered essential to entry into force of the protocol.

Fossil fu=
eled power plants pump pollutants and greenhouse gases into the air. (Photo courtesy O=
hio Environmental Council)
International negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol as scheduled to resume i=
n July in Bonn, Germany.

Toepfer said, "We know that the U.S. is the world=92s largest emitter of =
greenhouse gases and is therefore an important part of the problem. But t=
he U.S. is also our best hope for a solution. Simply put, the U.S. is the=
 world=92s most technologically innovative country. Its industries are mo=
st likely to develop the climate friendly products and services that must=
 one day soon set  the world onto a clean energy path," he said.

The European Union's Swedish Presidency expressed "deep concern" over =
Bush's stated "doubts about the Kyoto protocol." It welcomed the presiden=
t's commitment stated in his letter to the congressmen to "work with frie=
nds and allies" to "address climate change." But the Swedish presidency s=
aid the European Union wished to "underline very strongly that cooperatio=
n ... must be based on a legally binding document."

Three reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) this year and =
adopted by represtatives of 100 governments have confirmed that global wa=
rming is occurring more rapidly than previously predicted with consequenc=
es such as extreme weather events, sea level rise, coastal flooding and s=
pread of tropical diseases to temperate latitudes that will affect the en=
tire world, including the United States.

A study released Thursday by a team of physicists from the Imperial Colle=
ge, London, confirms the reality of global warming by comparing satellite=
 data over a 27 year period.

"While developing countries are at greatest risk," Toepfer said, "climate=
 change will also pose challenges for rich countries such as Japan, the U=
nited Kingdom and the United States. In North America, the IPCC projects =
increasing frequency, severity and duration of weather disasters includin=
g floods, droughts, storms and landslides."

"In all sectors," Toepfer warned, "water, health, food, energy, insurance=
, governments and human settlements, the risk exists that impacts of clim=
ate change will overstress existing institutional structures and engineer=
ed systems designed for a more stable world."

{ENDS Environment Daily contributed to this report. Environmental Data Services Ltd, London<=
/a>}





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Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com