CLIMATE CHANGE: WORLD, AMERICANS MAKES PROGRESS; BUSH ADMINISTRATION STAYS ON SIDELINES

The month of May brought a series of developments and progressions toward meaningful action on global climate change, but the Bush Administration insists on denying the urgency of the problem and ducking responsibility.

While the U.S. stays on the sidelines for economic reasons under President Bush's guidance, New Zealand became the latest nation to jump on the climate change bandwagon. The nation's legislature passed a bill to expand the climate change law on the books, allowing organizations and even individuals to exchange carbon dioxide credits under the Kyoto Protocol's trading regime

Meanwhile, pressure mounted in the U.S. General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt called on the Administration to set forth a clear policy on renewable energy and climate change. Just days later, on May 16, a bipartisan group of 132 U.S. mayors pledged to bring their cities into compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, chiding President Bush for not taking concerted action with our international partners for the sake of maintaining the quality of life in the U.S. and elsewhere for future generations. This follows an agreement by nine states, led by New York Republican Governor George Pataki, to set up a regional cap and trade regime for greenhouse gases.

The Bush Administration, however, did not seem to feel the heat. U.S. Climate Negotiator Harlan Watson refused to lay out a set of goals for a post-Kyoto Protocol international climate strategy. Watson also rebuffed UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's efforts to focus the G-8 on climate change during its presidency. In spite of all this, our allies maintain hope that the Bush Administration will cooperate on climate change.

While President Bush continues to ignore the growing call to action, momentum for change is building in Congress. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) recently added new research incentives to their already strong Climate Stewardship Act, which would establish caps and a trading regime for greenhouse gases in the U.S. and prepare us to move forward with the international community on the next round of progress on climate change. McCain and Lieberman have successfully drummed up support in Congress recently, and are considering attaching their legislation to the Senate's energy bill in the next few months. 



Updated May 27, 2005