PRESIDENT BUSH strode to the lectern in the Rose Garden yesterday and once
again passed up an opportunity -- perhaps his last -- to do something meaningful
on climate change. "Today, I am announcing a new national goal: to stop the
growth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025," he said. That pronouncement
was a weak and inadequate response to the imperative that the United States
provide leadership in combating global warming, a responsibility Mr. Bush has
shamefully ducked throughout his presidency.
Mr. Bush spoke on the eve of today's Major Economies Meeting (MEM) in Paris,
where the nations that produce the most carbon dioxide emissions will lay the
groundwork for another conference on climate change in conjunction with July's
summit of the Group of Eight major industrialized nations. He acted months ahead
of the year-end deadline the MEM set last September for national goals. But the
goal he set was far too modest: The U.N. ...