Blair and Merkel lean on Bush to join battle against climate change
President George Bush is coming under unprecedented pressure from Tony Blair and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to agree to tough new international measures to stop global warming accelerating out of control. The measures are contained in a strongly worded draft communiqu‚àö¬© for June’s G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany - obtained by The Independent on Sunday - which warns that “tackling climate change is an imperative, not a choice”. It adds that if “resolute and concerted international action” is not “urgently” taken, global warming will become “largely unmanageable”…. The United States and Canada are resisting key elements of the draft, but Mrs Merkel is determined not to water it down. She is backed by the Prime Minister, who is ringing Mr Bush weekly to try to persuade him to change his position. The draft warns that “global warming caused largely by human activities is accelerating” and that it “will seriously damage our common natural environment and severely weaken [the] global economy, with implications for international security”.
“[T]ackling climate change is an imperative, not a choice”…it seems such a basic, sensible approach. Whether or not you’re convinced that global warming is a serious issue, what harm could possibly be done by working to mitigate the causes of global climate change?
I can understand that there’s still some controversy about global warming. What I cannot understand is why the deniers refuse to even contemplate the possibility that taking positive action can only be a good thing. What if it turns out that global climate change isn’t the bogeyman so many of us think it is? What possible harm can be done by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases? Why is working to become more responsible stewards of the only environment we have a bad thing?
The problem, of course, is two-fold: most Conservatives are more concerned about profit than the planet, and the Kyoto Protocols aren’t binding on large polluters, like India, China, and Brazil. As Kyoto is currently structured, it can be argued that it places America at a competitive disadvantage. Perhaps, but with skillful diplomacy and some political arm-twisting, that problem should be easily resolved. The inequities of the Kyoto Protocols should not be used by the Bush Administration to justify continued inaction and lethargy when it comes to global climate change.
It’s time that Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © got off his @$$ and displayed the leadership Americans increasingly expect of him on this issue. Instead of currying favor among captains of industry, isn’t it about time that an American President showed what can be done when the most powerful and affluent country in the world takes the lead on an issue as important as global climate change?
Then again, this IS The Worst President EVER © we’re talking about here….
