Bush addresses climate change crisis, proposes global goals

This week, President Bush publicly discussed the issue of global warming and for the first time, proposed a global effort to do something about it.

In a conference held in Washington, Bush spoke about his proposal to combat global warming by negotiating with the world's biggest polluters (among them China and India), through a series of meetings to be held in the fall.

According to today's New York Times article "Bush Proposes Goal to Reduce Greenhouse Gas," his "global strategy" to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions includes the idea of each participating country establishing "mid-term national targets for reducing emissions over the next 10 to 20 years, while working together to set a longer-term goal."

This announcement comes as a surprise to many, particularly because the current administration had always been reluctant to join the international debate on climate change.

But his statements, many critics say, are not convincing enough. Although he seems to have a change of heart in regards to this issue, they say, he did not make any commitments or offer any details as to how the U.S. ( the world's biggest source of emissions that contribute to global warming) would go about achieving these goals. For this reason, White House environmental adviser Jim Connaughton described his plans as mere "aspirational goals."

President Bush is also criticized because he seems to be ignoring other international efforts addressing this issue, among them the Kyoto Protocol, a United Nations agreement that commits countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2012 (and which the U.S. never ratified).

Others note the fact that his goal is to come up with the definitive strategy in 18 months. As The New York Times' editorial "Playing to the Crowd- Talk about Warming" points out, this would conveniently coincide with his departure as president, "suggesting his real goal is to leave the heavy lifting to his successor".