Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Bush must prove goals on emissions not hot air

Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Bush must prove goals on emissions not hot air
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
June 4, 2007


President Bush's proposal to set a global goal for cutting greenhouse gas emissions was greeted with plenty of cynicism in America and around the world when he announced it last week, and with good reason. The United States under Bush has dragged its feet on the issue, and although his call for a specific target for cutting the gases that are blamed for global warming represents a major shift, critics called his proposal tardy, halfhearted and toothless. It's going to take a lot more than his declaration that "the United States takes this issue seriously" to convince the world that it really does.

The United States never ratified the Kyoto Protocol that requires industrialized countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2012, because India and China were exempt and because of rational fears that it would hurt the economy. And Bush has rejected a plan backed by Germany, Britain and Japan that would pick up where Kyoto left off, aiming to cut emissions after 2012 to a level 50 percent below 1990 levels by mid-century. Instead, he now is pushing a plan for the countries that spew the most emissions -- including India and China -- to agree by the end of next year to a global target for reducing greenhouse gases.

The president's proposal came in advance of his meeting this week with the leaders of other major industrialized nations at a G-8 summit in Germany, where global warming is a top agenda item. Looking at the bright side of Bush's announcement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it provided "common ground" for getting a new international agreement. British Prime Minister Tony Blair called it a "huge step forward" because for the first time "America is saying it wants to be part of a global deal. For the first time, it is saying it wants a global target for the reduction of emissions."

That policy shift by the president -- whether it was prompted by science or political pressure brought about by the Democratic seizure of Congress -- is indeed reason for optimism. We'll see this week whether it leads to some real progress. And we think Bush is right to insist that India and China, which is expected to soon surpass the United States as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, be part of the solution.

But it's doubtful the president will be taken seriously unless he spells out precisely what the United States will do to cut domestic emissions and unless he agrees to mandatory targets, instead of the voluntary goals he is now pushing. One critic last week compared the president's tardy entrance to the debate to a pitcher getting ready to hurl his first pitch, while the rest of the world is already in the top of the ninth inning. At least he's in the game, but he's got a long way to go and a lot of catching up to do.