On A Warming Planet, It's Business As Usual - Oregonian

[hatrack]

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It was obvious from the start, two weeks ago, that the Bush administration negotiators arrived in Montreal determined to prevent the rest of the industrialized world from extending and deepening its prior commitments to reducing greenhouse gases. The United States is now virtually alone among industrialized nations in arguing that voluntary emission controls and investment in new technology are enough to combat global warming.

Even developing countries, including big polluters such as China and India that have always balked at limits on their emissions, hinted in Montreal that they might finally be willing to join the fight to cut greenhouse gases. Europe, Canada, Russia, Japan and nearly all other industrialized nations already support mandatory limits on global warming pollution, combined with market-based emissions trading mechanisms.

Outside of the United States, the governments of the world seem to share a growing sense of urgency about melting glaciers, shrinking ice caps, warming oceans and rising sea levels. Emissions keep rising, and so does the globe's average temperature. This year is almost certain to be the warmest year in recorded history.

Climate change poses obvious long-term threats to the U.S. economy and environment. Yet in Montreal, the Bush administration seemed preoccupied with the trivial, such as whether former President Clinton would be allowed to address the assembly.

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http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1134433525144220.xml&coll=7