SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - US Seeks Alliance with China and India to Block Climate Protection

the headline says it all. Bush remains loyal to his policies, while more and more states leave his line and start working on much tougher environmental and climate protection themselves. Like often, the ordinary people and the local state powers are far ahead of the White House.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...521153,00.html

Quote:

In recent official statements, Washington has indicated it might be looking for a compromise during negotiations in Bali for a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. But sources say the White House is discreetly searching for partners in Beijing and Dehli to derail the prospects for any binding agreements to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. (...) According to the source, Washington is hoping that the two greenhouse gas emitters will openly declare during the conference that they are unwilling to accept any binding limits on emissions of greenhouse gases -- at least not as long as the US is unwilling to do more or if the Western industrial nations do not provide them with more financial aid for climate protection initiatives. If successful, the US could use the tactic to prevent itself from becoming an isolated scapegoat if negotiations in Bali end in a stalemate.

"Bush's people don't want to make any real progress in the next two weeks," one Washington insider said. "But they also don't want to be severely criticized internationally again. So now the White House is seeking discreet ways of preventing binding limits on emissions."
(...)
On a regional level, the US is changing fast. The governors of California, Utah and Montana have just started a TV campaign to demand new measures against climate change. "In state after state, we're taking action," say the governors. "Now it's time for Congress to act by capping greenhouse gas pollution."
"Now it's their turn," says Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Nine governors from the Midwest recently signed an agreement to reduce greenhouse gases in their respective states and to introduce an emissions trading system.