UPDATE - US hopes for alternative to Kyoto by June
Date: 23-May-01
Country: USA
Author: Randall Mikkelsen
The senior official, who has authority over U.S. policy on the issue, was asked whether the United States would have a proposal ready by the June meeting in Europe. "I certainly hope so," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another official said, however, it was not certain a plan would be ready by June despite the aims. "Don't take 'hope' for 'plan,'" the official said.
Policy-makers from former President Bill Clinton's administration predicted Bush would face difficulties coming up with an internationally acceptable policy because Bush has ruled out regulating U.S. carbon dioxide emissions thought to be major global-warming contributors.
"It's a huge blown opportunity," said David Doniger, director of climate policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council and head of climate change policy for the Environmental Protection Agency under Clinton.
"I don't think they have a clue what to offer the rest of the world," he said.
Bush in March effectively abandoned the 1997 Kyoto treaty to fight global warming by limiting industrial nation emissions of "greenhouse gases' such as carbon dioxide. The treaty requires nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5 percent from 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012.
Bush cited concerns that the treaty did not apply to developing nations and said it would weaken the U.S. economy, but European nations and Japan expressed disappointment.
Earlier, Bush had ruled out regulating power plant emissions of carbon dioxide, because, he said, the gas is not considered a pollutant.
EU MAY PROCEED ON TREATY
The European Union has said it may proceed with the treaty anyway.
Bush is to travel in mid-June to Europe, where he will meet NATO leaders in Brussels and European Union leaders in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview with Reuters last week an administration task force was working on a U.S. proposal but there was no timetable.
Another former U.S. official involved in the development of global-warming policy said Bush's decision not to regulate carbon dioxide, which predated the decision to abandon Kyoto, had been made for domestic political reasons without considering the impact on foreign policy.
Doniger said Europeans would have been willing to reconsider their objections to U.S. proposals to count carbon dioxide reductions gained by planting forests toward the greenhouse-gas limits, but Bush had now alienated the Europeans by his stance on Kyoto.
Doniger said Bush's energy policy unveiled last week also limited administration options for a Kyoto alternative by failing to consider reducing greenhouse gases. Instead it seeks ways to meet expectations of rising demand, he said, which the Energy Department projects will lead to a 35 percent increase in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions over the next 20 years.