-Caveat Lector- Democrats criticize Bush team's 'deplorable' Kyoto approach By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press WASHINGTON (July 24, 2001 4:20 p.m. EDT) - Senate Democrats sharply criticized the Bush administration Tuesday for its "deplorable and arrogant" refusal to work with other countries on the Kyoto climate accord. Deputy Energy Secretary Francis Blake reiterated that the mandatory greenhouse gas reductions required by the agreement were too costly and not achievable without "a forced march" away from the use of coal in power production. Still, he said, the administration would pursue an array of technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and prevent more carbon dioxide emissions from going into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels - especially coal - is a principal greenhouse gas. Carbon dioxide emissions are expected to grow at an average rate of 1.4 percent a year over the next 20 years and "we will need a concerted effort to reverse this trend," Blake acknowledged in testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. On Monday, negotiators from 178 nations agreed to proceed with the Kyoto agreement, working out implementation rules, without U.S. participation. The pact commits industrial countries to roll back greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels. "I'm very disappointed with what has happened on Kyoto," Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., told reporters, adding that he had feared U.S. isolation on the issue. "That's exactly what happened." Speaking in Tokyo, Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday pledged that the United States would continue to work with other countries to overcome differences in addressing climate change. "Hopefully we can present some new ideas," said Powell. Committee Democrats denounced the administration's out-of-hand rejection of the 1997 Kyoto agreement signed by the Clinton administration, but not ratified by the Senate. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called the Bush administration position on climate change "deplorable and arrogant" since the United States accounts for only 5 percent of the world's people and uses 25 percent of its energy. "This country cannot afford to be a bystander on this issue," added Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., citing headlines in newspapers around the world noting America's isolation on the climate issue. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said that the agreements reached in the discussions in Bonn, Germany, this week included "all the flexibility ... the U.S. government and U.S. industry had long argued were critical to a cost- effective strategy" on meeting the required reductions under the agreement reached in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997. Issues such as getting developing countries involved and fine tuning the agreement "should not have resulted in the administration walking away without a serious effort at remedying those defects," said Bingaman. But Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, called the Kyoto accord "the product of politics not science" and said its rejection by the administration has opened new avenues to address the climate issue. He and several other GOP senators praised Bush for seeking alternatives to Kyoto. EPA Administrator Christy Whitman, speaking to reporters during a break at another Senate hearing, dismissed suggestions that the United States is pursuing an isolationist policy when it comes to climate change. "We are not isolationist. We are going to continue to work with the rest of the world," she said. "We will continue to take our own steps ... to address these issues." Blake said development of new technologies are the key to dealing with climate change, while not eroding economic growth. "No climate change strategy, no matter how flexible and efficient, can support robust economic growth unless lower cost and higher productivity technologies reducing greenhouse gas emissions are readily available," he said at the hearing. Steve Wingate, Webmaster ANOMALOUS IMAGES AND UFO FILES http://www.anomalous-images.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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