| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Captain Compassion" |
| Date: |
09 Jun 2007 08:59:33 AM |
| Object: |
Bush 1, Greens 0 |
Bush 1, Greens 0
The president is a shrewd diplomat on global warming.
BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Friday, June 8, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/kstrasselpw/?id=110010186
Just call him George W. Bush, star international diplomat. Don't
snicker, don't spit out your coffee. Instead, read over the final
document on climate change released yesterday by the Group of Eight.
Yes, it's a major shift in how the world will address the supposed
threat of global warming. It's also largely the vision put forth years
ago by none other than George W. Bush--that international cowboy--even
if few European politicians will admit it.
Don't expect anyone to admit it. When Mr. Bush unveiled his new
climate framework last week, calling on the world's powers to reduce
greenhouse emissions, it was portrayed as a capitulation. He'd removed
the last "obstacle" to world unity on this issue, and seen the error
of his ways. At this week's Democratic presidential debate, every
candidate vowed to fix the damage Mr. Bush had done to America's
international reputation, his Kyoto failure the obvious example.
There's been a capitulation on global warming, but it hasn't happened
in the Oval Office. The Kyoto cheerleaders at the United Nations and
the European Union are realizing their government-run experiment in
climate control is a mess, one that's incidentally failed to reduce
carbon emissions. They've also understood that if they want the
biggest players on board--the U.S., China, India--they need an
approach that balances economic growth with feel-good
environmentalism. Yesterday's G-8 agreement acknowledged those
realities and tolled Kyoto's death knell. Mr. Bush, 1; sanctimonious
greens, 0.
Not that the president's handling of the climate issue has been
stellar. The science of global warming is still unsettled, yet Mr.
Bush in 2002 caved and laid out a voluntary emissions-reduction
program. Instead of getting credit, he's spent the ensuing years
getting shellacked for not doing more. This has laid the groundwork
for today's calls for mandatory curbs that would harm the economy.
It's also given Washington an excuse to re-micromanage the energy
sector. Think ethanol.
But compared with Kyoto, Mr. Bush's vision has been sublime. The basic
Kyoto philosophy is this: Set ever lower mandatory targets, ratcheting
down energy use, and by extension economic growth. The program was
viewed by environmentalists and politicians as a convenient excuse for
getting rid of unpopular fossil fuels, such as coal. In Kyoto-world,
governments exist to create draconian rules, even if those dictates
are disguised by "market" mechanisms such as cap-and-trade.
President Bush's approach is opposite: Allow economies to grow, along
the way inspiring new technologies and new forms of energy that lower
C02 emissions. Implicit is that C02-control technologies should focus
on energy sources we use today, including fossil fuels. In Bush-world,
the government is there to incentivize industry, coordinate with it,
and set broad goals.
Take your pick. Under the vaunted Kyoto, from 2000 to 2004, Europe
managed to increase its emissions by 2.3 percentage points over 1995
to 2000. Only two countries are on track to meet targets. There's
rampant cheating, and endless stories of how select players are
self-enriching off the government "market" in C02 credits. Meanwhile,
in the U.S., under the president's oh-so-unserious plan, U.S.
emissions from 2000 to 2004 were eight percentage points lower than in
the prior period.
Europeans may be slow, but they aren't silly, and they've quietly come
around to some of Mr. Bush's views. Tony Blair has been a leader here,
and give him credit for caring enough about his signature issue to
evolve. He began picking up Mr. Bush's pro-tech themes years ago, as
it became clear just how much damage a Kyoto would do to his country's
competitiveness. By the end of 2005, he admitted at a conference in
New York that Kyoto was a problem. "I would say probably I'm changing
my thinking about this in the past two or three years," he said. "The
truth is, no country is going to cut its growth or consumption
substantially in the light of a long-term environmental problem." He
doubted there would be successor to Kyoto, which expires in 2012, and
said an alternative might be "incentives" for businesses. Mr. Bush
couldn't have said it better.
Or consider nuclear plants. President Bush has pushed hard for more
nuclear, with its bountiful energy at zero C02 cost. This was long
anathema to British and German politicians, whose populations are
virulently anti-nuke and who balked at any official recognition of
nuclear benefits. As Kyoto has ratcheted down other energy sources,
nuclear has looked better. By 2005, the G-8 document out of Gleneagles
contained an explicit acknowledgment that nuclear energy mattered. The
EU's energy pact, signed earlier this year, also contained a nod to
nuclear. Europe has also gone from trying to banish coal, to using
tech to make it cleaner.
Then there's Mr. Bush's insistence that any "global" program must
include big emitters such as China and India (Kyoto doesn't). Though
it received little press, the U.S. in 2005 started the Asia-Pacific
Partnership, a voluntary climate pact between it and Australia, Japan,
South Korea, China and India. Unlike Kyoto--in which a government sets
a national target for emissions, and then forces a few unlucky
industries to make cuts--the Partnership gets industry execs from
every sector across the table from relevant government ministers, and
devises practical approaches to reductions. This parallel diplomatic
approach has proved far more acceptable to countries like China, and
played a role in that country's own recently released climate plan.
Pride is pride, and the Europeans haven't entirely given up on Kyoto
principles. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has spearheaded these
climate talks, went into this G-8 meeting in Heiligendamm advocating
binding reductions. Yet she admitted earlier this week that her plan
was off the table, as the U.S. held firm.
Yesterday's declaration, far from mandatory targets, instead sets a
"global goal" of halving emissions by 2050. It invites the "major
emerging economies" to join in this endeavor. It acknowledges that
different approaches across the world can "coordinate rather than
compete." It reports that "technology is a key to mastering climate
change" and lauds government "incentives." It admits that "over the
next 25 years, fossil fuels will remain the world's dominant source of
energy," and talks up the "peaceful use of nuclear energy." It even
explains that any program "must be undertaken in a way that supports
growth in developing, emerging and industrialized economies." Close
your eyes, and you might think this was President Bush in the Rose
Garden.
Will congressional Democrats prove as pragmatic? Even as Europeans
have wised up, the left has been pushing for a Kyoto here. Should
Democrats start to stumble on the difficulties, they could always ask
Mr. Bush--that new international climate ambassador--for some advice.
--
There may come a time when the CO2 police will wander the earth telling
the poor and the dispossed how many dung chips they can put on their
cook fires. -- Captain Compassion.
Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not
on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away
with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone
are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices
me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS
Celibacy in healthy human beings is a form of
insanity. -- Captain Compassion
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net
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| User: "ZenIsWhen" |
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| Title: Re: Bush 1, Greens 0 |
09 Jun 2007 09:14:26 AM |
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"Captain Compassion" <daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net> wrote in message
news:n0cl63pulm7aifki4bjpje4ioq8o1g3427@4ax.com...
Bush 1, Greens 0
AKA - Bush wins (and that is only a delusion), the world loses.
The president is a shrewd diplomat on global warming.
Pleeeeeeease - the president wasn;t even "shrewd" enough to eat a pretzen.
BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Friday, June 8, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/kstrasselpw/?id=110010186
Nothing more than a right wing, anti-environment/pro buisness *****
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| User: "Captain Compassion" |
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| Title: Re: Bush 1, Greens 0 |
09 Jun 2007 09:34:13 AM |
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On Sat, 09 Jun 2007 14:14:26 GMT, "ZenIsWhen"
<ZenIsWhen@onehandclapping.com> wrote:
"Captain Compassion" <daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net> wrote in message
news:n0cl63pulm7aifki4bjpje4ioq8o1g3427@4ax.com...
Bush 1, Greens 0
AKA - Bush wins (and that is only a delusion), the world loses.
The president is a shrewd diplomat on global warming.
Pleeeeeeease - the president wasn;t even "shrewd" enough to eat a pretzen.
BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Friday, June 8, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/kstrasselpw/?id=110010186
Nothing more than a right wing, anti-environment/pro buisness *****
ROTFLMAO!
--
There may come a time when the CO2 police will wander the earth telling
the poor and the dispossed how many dung chips they can put on their
cook fires. -- Captain Compassion.
Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not
on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away
with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone
are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices
me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS
Celibacy in healthy human beings is a form of
insanity. -- Captain Compassion
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net
.
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| User: "ThomJeff" |
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| Title: Re: Bush 1, Greens 0 |
09 Jun 2007 07:58:56 PM |
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Captain Compassion wrote:
Bush 1, Greens 0
The president is a shrewd diplomat on global warming.
BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Friday, June 8, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/kstrasselpw/?id=110010186
<snip>
they need an approach that balances economic growth with feel-good
environmentalism.
That sentence sums it up perfectly.
This piece is purely for the WSJ (soon to be Murdoch) choir.
Thom
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