Rainforest nations show unprecedented leadership

We are either with them or against them, Bush takes us in the wrong direction...again. World Moves Forward on Global Warming, Bush Administration Stays Behind Rainforest nations show unprecedented leadership on slowing global warming MONTREAL, Dec. 10—In a major step forward in the fight against global warming, industrial nations other than the United States and Australia agreed early this morning to negotiate deeper cuts in their emissions of heat-trapping gases that are causing global warming. The decision came at the end of the first Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force earlier this year following Russia's ratification. "The meeting in Montreal has generated new momentum in the fight to curb global warming emissions. The Bush administration clearly came here determined to prevent the rest of the world from extending and deepening their commitments under Kyoto," said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). "But their strategy failed, as Europe, Canada, Russia, and Japan decided to move forward without the United States. These nations understand that mandatory limits on global warming pollution, combined with market-based emissions trading mechanisms, are essential in mobilizing the private sector technology and capital needed to effectively confront the urgent threat of global warming. The Bush approach of relying solely on voluntary efforts and long-term R&D simply won't get the job done." Meyer noted that more and more governors, mayors, and business leaders are making significant commitments to reduce global warming pollution. "Outside of Washington, DC, these efforts are spreading like wildfire," Meyer said. "Growing awareness of this trend in the U.S. appeared to give negotiators from other countries confidence that the Bush administration's head-in-the-sand approach to global warming is increasingly out of touch with U.S. civil society." .............. "Rainforest nations are showing that developing countries are serious about making commitments to reduce their emissions," said Dr. Peter Frumhoff, Director of UCS's Global Environment Program. "This agreement paves the way for substantial increases in funding to slow deforestation, protect biodiversity and achieve emissions reductions essential to help avoid dangerous climate change." Read More at: Union of Concerned Scientists America's Shame in Montreal The New York Times | Editorial Tuesday 13 December 2005 The best that can be said of the recently concluded meeting on climate change in Montreal is that the countries that care about global warming did not allow the United States delegation to blow the whole conference to smithereens. Washington was intent on making sure that the conferees required no more of the United States than what it is already doing to restrain greenhouse gas emissions, which amounts to virtually nothing. At least the Americans' shameful foot-dragging did not bring the entire process to a complete halt, and for this the other industrialized countries, chiefly Britain and Canada, deserve considerable praise. It cannot be easy for America's competitors to move forward with costly steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while the United States refuses to carry its share of the load. Nevertheless, the Europeans and other signatories to the 1997 treaty limiting greenhouse gas emissions - a treaty the Bush administration has rejected - promised to work toward new and more ambitious targets and timetables when the agreement lapses in 2012. Read More at: Truthout