The fight against global warming has had a dramatic boost after 180 nations unexpectedly agreed to develop far-reaching measures on climate change.
Delegates to the climate summit in Montreal dealt a humiliating blow to President George W. Bush's five-year attempt to destroy the Kyoto Protocol, the pact designed to cut emissions of gases blamed for global warming.
The United States, which tried to sabotage the meeting at the last minute by walking out of the negotiations, was forced to join the agreement after failing to persuade a single nation to join it.
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..."President Bush's short-sighted approach is isolating the United States, but that is likely to change in the years ahead," Meyer said. " As the Kyoto climate regime deepens and broadens, U.S. business and industry will mount irresistible pressure on US leaders to re-engage in the process, rather than be shut out of rapidly expanding markets for clean energy and vehicle technologies."
"It is now up to President Bush to decide if he wants to reverse course and join the rest of the world in meaningful action to fight global warming," Meyer noted. "But rest assured, if he doesn't, the next President certainly will."
Montréal, Québec -- Officials in the Bush administration privately threatened the organizers of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Montreal, saying that any chance there might have been for the United States to sign the Kyoto Protocol would be lost if Bill Clinton spoke Friday at the meeting.
The threat was received within minutes of the Associated Press running a story on Clinton being added to the program. “It’s just astounding.” said one organizer. “It came through loud and clear from the Bush people—they wouldn’t sign the deal if Clinton were allowed to speak.”
Clinton said, "There’s no way that I’m gonna let petty politics get in the way of the deal. So I’m not gonna come." The organizers later reported that they had "called the administration’s bluff." Clinton delivered his speech as planned.
In his speech Friday, Clinton described the Bush administration’s opposition to Kyoto as “flat wrong.”
Vice-President Dick Cheney directed the U.S. envoy to walk out Thursday, in response to comments by Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin on Thursday. The walk out is not believed to relate to Clinton's attendance.
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