Pressed on Global Warming at G8 Summit, Administration Opts to Stall

Statement by Larry Schweiger, President & CEO, National Wildlife Federation, On Bush Administration’s Climate Position at G8 Summit

June 6, 2007 -- Washington, DC (June 6) – “Going into the G8 Summit in Germany, President Bush recently called for the world’s leading emitters to formulate a plan to take voluntary action on global warming.

“Instead of progress toward international cooperation, this is an attempt to muddy the waters. The Bush administration has opposed efforts in Congress to tackle global warming, and now the President is going global.

“It’s especially troubling that the Bush administration is seeking to confuse the growing momentum for international action to cut global warming pollution. Rather than embrace Chancellor Angela Merkel’s proposal to set mandatory pollution targets, the Bush administration is opting to stall.

“The proposal for international meetings on global warming would not produce anything until after the presidential election in 2008, in the final months of a lame duck presidency.

“The international Framework Convention on Climate Change is already underway, and President Bush can return to the negotiating table at any time.

“The European Union is pushing for the G8 nations to acknowledge that we need urgent action to cut global warming pollution to keep further temperatures from exceeding a threshold of four degrees Fahrenheit.

“We can do this by cutting emissions by two percent per year starting today, achieving a reduction of up to 80 percent by mid-century.

"Twenty major U.S. companies have joined with National Wildlife Federation and other conservation groups to call for a 60-80 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century. And the major bipartisan initiatives in Congress would achieve similar emission reduction targets.

“If President Bush were serious about this plan, he should have offered it six years ago when he rejected the Kyoto treaty, instead of walking away from the negotiating table altogether. Now this is, at best, a stalling tactic.”

Source: National Wildlife Federation