Originally published January 8 2006
U.S. limits commitment to global warming solutions at Canadian conference
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
At an environmental conference in Canada that brought together 189 countries, the United States, represented by Chief U.S. climate negotiator Harlan Watson, refused to make pledges to fight global warming past the year 2012, angering many European countries and activist organizations.
The United States ruled out making extra pledges to fight global warming beyond 2012 on Tuesday, angering environmentalists who accused Washington of blocking a 189-nation conference in Canada.
"The United States is opposed to any such discussions," Watson told a news conference of Canadian proposals to launch talks under the U.N.'s climate convention about new actions to combat global warming beyond 2012.
Environmentalists accused Washington of doing too little to fight a rise in temperatures from human activities that could lead to more storms, expanding deserts and worse floods, and could raise sea levels by up to three feet (one meter) by 2100.
"The failure of the United States to be willing to discuss future action here is the real issue," he said, predicting Washington will only join a global pact after Bush leaves office.
Bush pulled out in 2001 of the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, under which about 40 industrial nations have to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 1008-12.
At Montreal, Kyoto backers plan to launch talks, likely to last several years, on new commitments beyond 2012.
Bush branded Kyoto too costly and said it wrongly excluded poor countries.
Many also hope to start wider parallel talks among all countries, including the United States and developing nations such as China and India, on new ways to fight climate change.
She said that new tougher measures were urgently needed to combat rising temperatures.
And British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a speech earlier on Tuesday that he believed that all major economies would sign up for a binding accord to succeed Kyoto.
But Watson reiterated that Washington had no plans to adopt Kyoto-style caps on emissions and rejected environmentalists' predictions that the U.S. was dooming the conference to failure.
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