G-8 Climate Change Agreement Boils Down to "We'll Consider It"

You know what it means at a theatrical audition when the director says "we'll get back to you." That's about all that the G-8 Summit agreement on climate change trumpeted in the media today comes down to. The actual language of the G-8 Climate Statement reveals that the accord essentially consists of a promise only to "consider seriously" the goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050:

In setting a global goal for emissions reductions in the process we have agreed today involving all major emitters, we will consider seriously the decisions made by the European Union, Canada and Japan which include at least a halving of global emissions by 2050.

So, they'll think about it. "Don't get back to us, we'll get back to you."

Bush Applies New "Long View" Philosophy to Greenhouse Gas Cuts Proposal at G-8 Summit

A definite pattern is emerging here. With less than two years remaining in his term, Bush has shifted to a long term, distant-target approach to the major problems confronting his administration and, by extension, his legacy as chief executive. A few days ago he was analogizing U.S. occupation of Iraq to our half-century-long military presence in Korea, adding many years to his prior comment that continuation of the Iraq occupation would be decided by his successor in office. Today at the G-8 Summit he is shifting real action on climate change far down the road, resisting calls by German Chancellor Angela Merkel for an immediate agreement on cutting greenhouse gases and calling instead for talks with the 15 largest emitters of such gases with the aim of agreeing on cuts by the end of 2008 -- in other words, the earliest possible time frame for any commitment to act is after he is on the way out.

The very real danger of Bush's proposal to address climate change through 15-nation talks is that he will derail not only immediate action by the G-8 nations but also torpedo U.N. talks aimed at devising a replacement for the expiring 169-nation Kyoto Protocol. The prospects for agreement among the 15 largest emitters of greenhouse gases are extraordinarily bleak, as Bush knows, because that group includes China and India, and they have steadfastly resisted joining in efforts to address the global warming threat. In essence, the Bush plan is to do nothing unless and until the nations most opposed to doing anything take action. That ought to put things off for a good long while, indeed.

From the "It Never Ends" Department, Global Warming Section

After years of insisting that global warming is a contested issue and not demonstrably linked to human activity, the White House signalled some softening on the issue by referring to "the serious challenge of climate change" in this year's State of the Union speech, and by subsequently claiming that this administration has taken steps to address the problem. Reuters reports today, however, that the Bush administration continues to work behind the scenes to suppress efforts to tackle the environmental crisis:

The United States is battling to stop next month's Group of Eight summit in Germany from pushing for urgent talks on a new deal to fight global warming after the Kyoto Protocol lapses in 2012.

In a draft of the final communique for the June 6-8 summit seen by Reuters, Washington wants taken out references to the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for a U.N. conference in Bali in December to open talks on a new global deal.