Environmental Defense Deplores Backtracking On Global Warming

Environmental Defense sharply criticized a statement made late yesterday by President Bush reversing his earlier commitment, made during the presidential campaign, to curb emissions of all key pollutants from electric power plants, including carbon dioxide, which is a major contributor to global warming. The statement was contained in a letter from the President to Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb). The letter also reiterated the administration’s opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, which was also stated during the campaign.

“Not only has the administration reneged on a campaign commitment, but in opposing the Kyoto Protocol and power plant pollution controls, it has effectively blocked the only two proposed vehicles for fighting global warming, the key environmental threat of this century, while offering no alternative path to protect the planet,” said Fred Krupp, executive director of Environmental Defense.

“By raising the specter of scientific uncertainty, this position effectively rejects the judgment of the world’s leading climate scientists, confirmed just weeks ago in the assessment released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. That report warned that the threat from global warming has grown and that Earth’s climate, its species, and many of its countries are already feeling its effects,” said Dr. Michael Oppenheimer, chief scientist of Environmental Defense.

“We urge the administration to reconsider its position and work with the bipartisan Congressional coalition developing legislation to control carbon dioxide from power plants, while playing an active role in negotiations, due to resume in July, aimed at improving and finalizing the Kyoto Protocol,” said Joe Goffman, senior attorney at Environmental Defense. “As the world’s last remaining superpower, and the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, the United States has a special obligation to lead on this issue. The international community and forward thinking elements of the business community are already taking this problem on, it’s time for the new administration to face its responsibilities on global warming as well.”