Here in Europe, climate change watchers are annoyed by George Bush. However, in something of a change from the previous situation, they’re now annoyed at him because he thinks climate change is happening and will lead the world on the issue. A special summit called by President Bush last week saw him admit that climate change was real. However critics were not impressed by the suggestion it can be tackled with voluntary targets for emission reduction and for Bush’s call for “a new international approach on greenhouse gas emissions” (LA Times).
“It was a total charade and has been exposed as a charade. I have never heard a more humiliating speech by a major leader. He [Bush] was trying to present himself as a leader while showing no sign of leadership. It was a total failure,” one anonymous attending diplomat told the Guardian. Another anonymous diplomat with remarkably similar views told the BBC: “This is a total charade. … It’s humiliating for him – a total humiliation.”
The crux of complaints is that Bush is still pushing a ‘technology will save us’ line instead of embracing the mandatory emission reduction targets favoured by other nations. To be fair it was known before the meeting that hard reduction targets were not on the agenda. Other critics have suggested the summit is an attempt to undermine a parallel UN meeting (detailed last week over on Nature proper).
Not everyone is so sure the meeting was a complete waste of time. The NY Times opines:
President Bush’s two-day summit on global warming this week was not, as some of the European delegates complained privately, a total bust. … It displayed a more open-minded and somewhat chastened George Bush, now in legacy mode and no longer in deep denial about the existence of global warming or the fact that humans and fossil fuels are primarily responsible for it.
However the NYT goes on to pretty much agree with the widespread European view that, as it puts it, “positives pale in comparison to the negatives, chiefly Mr Bush’s failure to commit the United States to anything new or bold or inspiring”.
On climate change it seems poor Bush just can’t win.