[GreenYes] Administration's Greenhouse Program

["Peter Anderson" <anderson@no.address>]

1/20/03 NEW YORK TIMES


U.S. Is Pressuring Industries to Cut Greenhouse Gases
By ANDREW C. REVKIN


n an aggressive effort to show that President Bush's voluntary climate
strategy can work, senior administration officials are traveling the country
collecting written promises from industries to curb emissions of gases
linked to global warming.

White House officials, insisting on concrete commitments measured in tons of
gases, have rejected written offers from some industry groups to take
nonspecific actions, several industry officials said. The administration and
industry leaders plan to unveil a broad array of pledges at the White House
on Feb. 6.

This is the administration's latest and most intensive effort to demonstrate
that voluntarily controlling emissions can make mandatory reductions
unnecessary. Mr. Bush has said such reductions will harm the economy. The
effort has no teeth, officials and company representatives say, other than
the growing realization in industry that without measurable success from
voluntary reductions, it will become ever harder in coming years to stave
off legislation requiring companies to act. Senators of both parties
introduced such legislation in Congress this month, and states are acting on
their own as well.

The administration's intent, once all the industries' commitments are
tallied, is to meet Mr. Bush's stated goal: an 18 percent reduction, by
2012, in emissions of greenhouse gases for each unit of gross domestic
product. Overall emissions would continue to grow, but more slowly.

Some company officials and other opponents of regulation have criticized the
administration's effort as a mandatory program disguised as a voluntary one.

"This is meant to give the impression that the administration is doing
something to control CO2 emissions," said Myron Ebell, a climate policy
expert at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which promotes free markets
and limited government. "The danger is that they could easily get pushed
from that position into actually regulating emissions, which would be very
expensive, pointless."

At the same time, many scientists, environmental groups and political foes
of Mr. Bush have said his target is so modest that no matter what industries
do to achieve it, it will not help stem climate change. Most other
industrialized countries have chosen to pursue binding reductions in
emissions through the Kyoto Protocol, the climate treaty Mr. Bush rejected
shortly after taking office. ...

______________________________
Peter Anderson
RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING Corp
4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
Madison, WI 53705
Ph:    (608) 231-1100
Fax:   (608) 233-0011
Cell    (608) 438-9062
email: anderson@no.address