President Bush Presents Proposal for Global Emissions Reductions Goals

President Bush today stated that the United States should join with other nations in developing guidelines by the end of 2008 to reduce emissions in order to reduce greenhouse gases. While the standards he set forth are not to the liking of many environmental groups, at least President Bush is finally acknowledging that global warming exists.

According to the President "The United States will work with other nations to establish a new framework for greenhouse gas emissions for when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
So my proposal is this: By the end of next year, America and other nations will set a long-term global goal for reducing greenhouse gases. To develop this goal, the United States will convene a series of meetings of nations that produce the most greenhouse gasses, including nations with rapidly growing economies like India and China."

"Each country would establish midterm management targets and programs that reflect their own mix of energy sources and future energy needs," he said. "In the course of the next 18 months, our nations will bring together industry leaders from different sectors of our economies, such as power generation, and alternative fuels and transportation."

These statements come just a short time before the convening of the G8 Summit during which President Bush will likely come under some pressure to begin efforts in the United States to reduce emissions. Time will tell where this leads. Let's hope it is an actual step in the direction of environmental reforms and not just rhetoric to appease the other members of the G-8 and the Kyoto Protocol.