Bush Official Defends U.S. Climate Change Policy

BRUSSELS, Belgium, October 9, 2003 (ENS) - European criticism over the Bush administration's climate change policy is misguided, the U.S. State Department's senior climate negotiator said Wednesday. The administration is spending billions of dollars on domestic and international efforts to address climate change, the official said, and is taking the issue "very seriously."

The Bush administration's policy recognizes the need for climate change policies to maintain "economic growth that will improve the world's standard of living," said Harlan Watson, senior climate negotiator for the U.S. State Department in a speech before the European Policy Centre.

"It is grounded in the reality that addressing the issue of climate change will require the sustained effort by all nations over many generations," Watson said.

The United States is responsible for more than 25 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, which are widely believed to be the major cause of global warming. U.S. greenhouse gas emissions rose some 14 percent from 1990 to 2000.

Most scientists are convinced that greenhouse gas emissions are causing the planet's climate to change. (Photo courtesy the David Suzuki Foundation)

"While we differ in our approaches to addressing climate change, we must keep in mind that we are all working toward the same goal, and that we all cooperate in this important effort," Watson said.

EU officials have criticized the Bush administration for pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol, a move that has put the treaty's future in doubt.

The United States is a signatory to the 1997 international accord to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but President George W. Bush withdrew U.S. support for the treaty in March 2001.

Administration officials say the science behind climate change is too uncertain to justify mandatory emission cuts that could harm the U.S. economy.

The treaty will not come into effect unless it is ratified by 55 nations, including industrialized countries representing at least 55 percent of that group's 1990 carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

This will not happen without the commitment of either the United States, which accounted for 36.1 percent of the 1990 CO2 total or Russia, which was responsible for 17.4 percent of the 1990 figure.

Russia has recently backed away from a verbal commitment to ratify the treaty, a move some believe has been influenced by the Bush administration.

The decision has surprised environmentalists because Russia - due to declines in its industrial output since 1990 - could benefit economically if it ratified Kyoto. But recent statements by Russian officials have cast doubt on the science behind climate change, an argument rejected by environmentalists and many scientists - but echoed by Watson.

"Contrary to the claims of some that we know everything we need to know about the science of climate change, we really know little about the scope, magnitude, timing, or regional distribution of future climate change or its potential impact on society," Watson said. "We lack the necessary environmental data - especially in developing countries - required to understand the Earth system."

Acquiring that data is a key part of the Bush administration's climate change policy, Watson said, and it spent $1.8 billion in 2003 on climate change science.

Some $1.6 billion was spent this year on climate change and clean energy technologies, Watson explained, such as fuel cells, clean coal, carbon sequestration and nuclear.

In addition to spending "more than any other nation," Watson said, the administration has adopted a voluntary plan to cut emissions relative to the size of the economy.

The plan calls for voluntary commitments by U.S. industries to cut the nation's greenhouse gas intensity - the ratio of emissions to economic output - by 18 percent over the next decade.

"Unlike an absolute emission target, however, an intensity target of this magnitude will not inadvertently hurt our economy," Watson told the European audience.

Many scientists believe climate change will bring new weather patterns, such as increased torrential rains. (Photo by C. Errath courtesy FAO)

Analysis by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy found that the Bush policy will result in a 13 percent increase in overall emissions, compared to a 15 percent increase that would occur without the administration's voluntary commitments.

By contrast, ratification of Kyoto would commit the United States to reduce emissions from 1990 levels by 7 percent by 2012.

Just because the United States is out of Kyoto does not mean it is not participating in international climate change efforts, Watson said Wednesday.

The Bush administration has forged formal bilateral relationships on an array of climate change initiatives with some 18 nations from the developed and developing worlds, Watson said, noting that these countries account for some 75 percent of global CO2 emissions.

Watson's speech comes amid increasing domestic skepticism of the administration's climate change policy.

Last week California announced it is filing suit against the administration for deciding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not have authority to regulate C02 - as many as nine other states are expected to join the legal challenge.