Less than a week before a G8 meeting at which Tony Blair tried but failed to get the major industrialized nations to commit to major greenhouse gas cuts, George Bush announced his own climate change conference. The Guardian writes that this action "threw international efforts to control climate change into confusion." In addition to the G8 summit, this summer will bring a UN conference that will create the successor to the Kyoto Protocol. Bush officially withdrew the US from that protocol early in his term in office.
This is far from the first time that President Bush has created his own coalition after repudiating existing mechanisms for producing international consensus. When the United Nations refused to authorize the war in Iraq, he assembled his own loose coalition outside the UN's auspices. He withdrew from an inconvenient nuclear arms treaty and negotiated a different deal with Russia. The deal reached between the Bush administration, North Korea and an ad hoc group of Asian powers is substantially similar to a deal reached in 1994 by the Clinton administration, a deal repudiated early in the Bush presidency.
Some observers have argued that this is an intentional attempt to undermine and destroy the existing international infrastructure. Proponents of this view also cite former UN ambassador John Bolton's claim that the top floors of UN headquarters could be removed without any ill effects.
Few people claim that the Kyoto Protocol is perfect. Some criticize its low emissions reductions, others criticize the treatment of the developing world, and others object to the loss of sovereignty implicit in any international treaty. That protocol was designed as only the first step out of many, and US intransigence on the issue has blocked that first step. The Bali Protocol would be the next step, and like Kyoto, would require US involvement to be effective. Creating parallel and incompatible regimes protecting the climate will only endanger our nation and our world's security and economy. This administration's isolated approach to successful international organizations serves no one's interests.
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Bush is creating a coalition that will appear to be doing something to limit the warming of our climate, due to manmade greenhouse gas pollution, all the while actually doing nothing. "....global warming we take as a serious issue.... to be addressed through advances in technology..." We already have technology, it simply needs to be used.
Below are 15 "technologies and methods", already available and developed today, that almost anyone can do to reduce their carbon pollution:
I have attempted to associate a cost with each item, and they are listed in order of cost. Any savings is up to your usage and not included in these estimates.
1) $0 For "A/C" in the summer, open the windows at night and close them during the day
2) $0 buy recycled products if you can find them- support recycling;
3) $0 buy local products & produce- if they are not transported, that saves gasoline and also supports the local producer;
4) $0 composting turns garbage into fertilizer and prevents formation of methane, which is 23 times worse than carbon dioxide in terms of climate effect;
5) $0 Unplug all adapters and turn off anything that is on 'Standby'- use powerstrips with a switch for multiple plugs, if needed;
6) $20 use a rake instead of a leaf blower: they are quieter and provide exercise too;
7) $20 use a clothesline, http://www.laundrylist.org , instead of the dryer- many benefits: cleaner clothes, clothes last longer, don't get wrinkled, and each load saves 5 kWh off of your electric bill;
8) $40 replace incandescents with CFLs- saves on A/C costs in summer too;
9) $80 use a REEL lawnmower, which you push to cut the grass and requires no gasoline;
10) $280/ton if you have a wood burning stove, try biobricks, http://www.biopellet.net , - pellets for a wood burning stove- these burn more cleanly with less ash and are easy to start (available in New England and NY) ;
11) $2.45/Gal. try to use biodiesel heating oil, http://www.biodiesel.org/buyingbiodiesel/retailfuelingsites/ , for your furnace/boiler/car;
12) ~$100/month rent a solar-electric system, http://www.jointhesolution.com/mplante , for your home if you cannot buy a system (not available in KS, NE, SD, MO, TN, MS, AL, SC, or AK- sign the SOLAR Act to get access to solar for your home http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/654310470;
13) $3-4000 get a solar hot water, http://www.sebane.org/sebane_info/members_list.asp?id=13 , heater- fastest payback of all renewables;
14) $10,000 replace drafty windows, if you can. If you cannot, use plastic ($10) or close the curtains at night ($0) during the winter; and
15) $15,000 trade in the SUV for a car or even a hybrid vehicle, if you need a car.
Start out with something small and try bigger items as you feel more and more comfortable with these changes.
There are many possibilities, and they may seem overwhelming. Some ideas are more effective than others: #1 will work if your house is shaded.... but it depends on what you are willing to do. Start with the smaller items, and as you see how it works for you, move to larger items. My family has done all of it (#3 is happening this spring, #11 will happen when I can find some in my area, and #12 starts in 2008). In doing all of these things, our electric bill is only 200-400 kWh/month, and our carbon footprint is less than half of the average American's use.
I run a website that discusses global warming http://www.globalwarming-factorfiction.com so I feel that I have a handle on most of the pertinent issues.
In my opinion, Mr. Bush is simply giving into politics. This isn't surprising - he is a politician. With the elections coming up in about 18 months he needs to set up for a successor from the Republican party. He cannot allow the Democratic candidates to make global warming a huge issue so it only makes political sense to agree to some types of talks and discussions.
It is interesting though that when Mr. Bush acts as an administrator (the job he gets paid for) he has said that the science does not support dramatic changes in our economy - hence the US did not sign the Kyoto document.