U.S. Rejects World Climate Goals

The Bush Administration favors targeted reductions of emissions from certain industries, rather than a global cap on carbon emissions outlined in the European Union's "2 degree target." That target would limit emissions of carbon dioxide to about half of 1990 levels by 2050 to avoid raising global temperatures another 2 degrees C -- about 3.6 degrees F. The growing agreement among other world leaders -- including many from Europe and Asia -- will be a topic of discussion at next week's G8 Summit, where the pressure on the United States to act will continue to grow. The Bush Administration is sticking to its plan of reducing gasoline consumption 20 percent, encouraging voluntary emissions reductions and other strategies that critics say fall short of the historic effort needed to tackle the problem, according to a story in the May 30 Newsday.