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Us must cut carbon emissions...as bush accepts need for action on climate change
21 February 2005
The United States must take urgent action to combat climate change, Friends of the Earth said today. The call follows President Bush's apparent recognition of the need to tackle global warming in a speech in Brussels today.
Mr Bush spoke of the need to "show good stewardship of the earth - and that requires addressing the serious, long-term challenge of global climate change." He spoke of emerging technologies and said that "all nations, including the developing countries can advance economically, while slowing the growth in global greenhouse and avoid pollutants that undermine public health".
Friends of the Earth said that the US - the world's biggest polluter - must accept that we need to do far more than "slowing the growth" of greenhouse gases, and called on the US to commit itself to join the rest of the world in tackling global warming by pledging itself to a significant reduction in carbon dioxide levels [1].
Friends of the Earth's climate campaigner Catherine Pearce said:
"Now that President Bush appears to accept the need to tackle climate change, there can be no excuse for US inaction on this issue. The United States, the world's biggest polluter, must join the rest of the world in tackling this problem. And that means making significant cuts in US emissions. Unless the US takes action, a new era of transatlantic unity cannot begin."
Note
1. President Bush pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, arguing that US business interests would be harmed by the treaty. The United States is responsible for a quarter of the world's carbon dioxide emissions (the principal greenhouse gas), yet it only has around four per cent of the world's population.
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
