5 - 11 April 2001
Issue No.528
|
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 5 - 11 April 2001 Issue No.528 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Dirty deed
World leaders watched aghast as US President George W Bush pronounced the Kyoto treaty dead, writes Thomas Gorguissian from Washington
This week, when United States President George W Bush stated categorically that the Kyoto protocol was no longer, he sparked an outcry all over the industrial world. Europe in particular sees Bush's decision as "a brutal form of unilateralism." London's Independent warned the American leader that "history will not judge George Bush kindly."
Already last week, when Bush met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Washington, Kyoto was a prominent bone of contention. Bush explained his decision in purely domestic terms. "I will explain as clearly as I can, today and every other chance I get, that we will not do anything that harms our economy. Because first things first are the people who live in America. That's my priority," Bush said.
"I'm worried about the economy. I'm worried about the lack of an energy policy. I'm worried about rolling blackouts in California." His America-first sentiments prompted harsh criticism from Romano Prodi, the European Union's Commission president. "If one wants to be a world leader, one must know how to look after the entire earth and not only American industry," the EU chief told La Repubblica newspaper. The Kyoto protocol called on industrial nations to cut heat-trapping emissions to below 1990 levels by 2012.
In an effort at damage-control, the Bush administration has said that new approaches can be reached with America's allies. "We're ready to work with our friends and allies on the issues of global climate change to develop alternative approaches to the Kyoto Protocol," Sean McCormack of the National Security Council told reporters in Washington. He and Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer confirmed, however, that the Kyoto treaty will not be respected.
"No country has the right to declare Kyoto dead," said Swedish Environment Minister Kjell Larsson, hosting a meeting with his EU counterparts in Kiruna, 75km north of the Arctic Circle. Larsson described himself and his colleagues as "very concerned" and said discussions on the issue were intense.
Observers note that the US administration's move was nonetheless expected. Bush had made it clear in his election campaign that he was against the Kyoto protocol. His aversion to the environmental accord was strong enough to withstand the counsel of his own appointee, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Christine Whitman. Her memo to the president in early March, reported by the Washington Post, insisted that Kyoto was "the only game in town. There's a real fear in the international community," she warned, "that if the US is not willing to discuss the issue within the framework of Kyoto, the whole thing will fall apart." Only last week, Whitman was telling the media that, while the Kyoto approach was "deeply flawed," the president remained "absolutely committed" to continued engagement with other countries on the climate issue. Bush clearly ignored her advice.
"We are back to Ronald Reagan and America First," said Noel Mamer, a leader of France's Green Party and a member of parliament. "I think the decision is completely mad, and it is a reason for more isolation for America."
The US produces 25 per cent of the world's carbon dioxide though it represents only four per cent of the global population. Bush's decision leads the way to renegotiation of the existing Kyoto documents, but no one knows how far this could go. Some critics believe that Bush and his backers want to start from scratch, a process that could take years. And it seems nobody has any illusions about changing Bush's stance, despite the concerns of his own senior environmental advisor -- and those of the American public. According to a poll taken after the announcement to withdraw from Kyoto, three-fourths of Americans consider global warming to be a serious problem.
Over three years ago, then Vice-President Al Gore hailed the agreement, which he personally helped craft, as a breakthrough in addressing climate change. But even members of his own Democratic Party did not approve it. In 1997 the US Senate voted 95-0 to reject the treaty if it were submitted for ratification. The vote was so resounding that the Clinton-Gore administration decided against putting Kyoto through the ratification process. Nor has any other industrial country ratified the agreement.
Environmentalists claim that US carbon dioxide emissions, rather than being reduced, have continued to increase, so that they are now nearly 15 per cent higher than their 1990 levels. Many scientists believe such emissions are causing what is known as global warming, but Bush is not without allies. "If anyone wants to see a microcosm of what Kyoto would bring, look no further than California, except that the lack of energy must also be exacerbated by excessive energy taxes," Patrick Michaels, a senior fellow in environmental studies at the conservative Cato Institute, wrote recently. "Kyoto was a bad deal, whether or not you care about global warming. And it's a good deal that finally there is a world leader with the courage to tell the truth."
Bush's critics, on the other hand, insist that his support for heavy industry's narrow interests comes at the expense of public health standards, sensible environmental regulations, and solutions to the nation's electricity deregulation failure. Tyson Slocum, senior researcher for the Critical Mass Energy and Environment Programme at Public Citizen, a public-interest group, said, "Since 1996, the GOP [the Republican Party] has received nearly $110 million -- or more than 73 per cent -- of all energy industry contributions. Bush proposed spending tens of billions in taxpayer dollars to provide subsidies to the coal, petroleum, and nuclear industries in the name of solving the electricity crisis, when the actual culprit is deregulation's failure to develop properly functioning markets, not a shortage of supply."
Washington's new environmental agenda has strained diplomatic relations between the EU and the US and more confrontations are expected in the coming days and weeks. Instead of facing the challenge of global warming, Bush will have to confront increasing global criticism.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page