New US Move to Spoil Climate Accord

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N

Sun, 19 Jun 2005 16:14:13 -0400

Climate-gate: New Leaked Memos

 

What amateurs these neocons are: deleting parts and thinking nobody's

gonna catch it. The problem is they don't have to be that good

because no one calls them on their sh*t when it's discovered anyway!

 

 

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1509839,00.html

 

New US Move to Spoil Climate Accord

By Mark Townsend

The Observer UK

 

Sunday 19 June 2005

 

Extraordinary efforts by the White House to scupper Britain's

attempts to tackle global warming have been revealed in leaked US

government documents obtained by The Observer.

 

These papers - part of the Bush administration's submission to the

G8 action plan for Gleneagles next month - show how the United States,

over the past two months, has been secretly undermining Tony Blair's

proposals to tackle climate change.

 

The documents obtained by The Observer represent an attempt by the

Bush administration to undermine completely the science of climate

change and show that the US position has hardened during the G8

negotiations. They also reveal that the White House has withdrawn from

a crucial United Nations commitment to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions.

 

The documents show that Washington officials:

 

* Removed all reference to the fact that climate change is a

'serious threat to human health and to ecosystems';

* Deleted any suggestion that global warming has already started;

* Expunged any suggestion that human activity was to blame for

climate change.

 

Among the sentences removed was the following: 'Unless urgent

action is taken, there will be a growing risk of adverse effects on

economic development, human health and the natural environment, and of

irreversible long-term changes to our climate and oceans.'

 

Another section erased by the White House adds: 'Our world is

warming. Climate change is a serious threat that has the potential to

affect every part of the globe. And we know that ... mankind's

activities are contributing to this warming. This is an issue we must

address urgently.' The government's chief scientific adviser, Sir

David King, has dismissed the leaking of draft communiques on the

grounds that 'there is everything to play for at Gleneagles.' However,

there is no doubt that many UK officials have become exasperated by

the Bush administration's refusal to accept the basic principle that

climate change is happening now and is due to man's activities.

 

Earlier this month, the senior science academies of the G8

nations, including the US National Academy of Science, issued a

statement saying that evidence of climate change was clear enough to

compel their leaders to take action. 'There is now strong evidence

that significant global warming is occurring,' they said.

 

It is now clear that this advice has been completely ignored by

Bush and his advisers. 'Every year, it (local air pollution) causes

millions of premature deaths, and suffering to millions more through

respiratory disease,' reads another statement removed by Washington.

 

Washington also appears to be unsympathetic towards the plight of

Africa, the other priority singled out by Blair for the G8 Summit in

Gleneagles.

 

The documents reveal how the Bush administration has pulled out of

financial pledges to fund a network of regional climate centres

throughout Africa which were designed to monitor the unfolding impact

of global warming.

 

'Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Arctic are particularly vulnerable

to climate variability and are starting to experience the impacts,'

reads another excerpt rejected by the US.

 

Other crucial schemes ditched by the US include the Clean

Development Mechanism (CDM) set up to help developing states develop

economically while controlling greenhouse gas emissions.

 

According to the documents, the American government has reneged on

plans to 'ensure that the CDM executive board is adequately funded by

the end of 2005.'

 

 

 

Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who

are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.--Mark Twain

 

The test of our progress, is not whether we add more to the abundance

of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who

have too little. --

Franklin Delano Roosevelt