At G-8, 'Substantial' Greenhouse Cuts

The G-8 Summit has produced an agreement calling for "substantial" cuts in greenhouse gas emissions -- but less than the goal set by Europeans, Reuters is reporting this morning. At the G-8 Summit in Germany, President Bush refused European prodding to do more on climate change, and did his own prodding by urging developing nations like China to do more. Bush has been lambasted for his world climate plan because it falls so far short of European and U.N. goals, and because it operates outside of the framework of negotiations that the rest of the world has been actively engaged with for a decade or so. But at the summit, Bush cast himself as a bridge from those countries that emit less and want more action to those countries that emit more and want less action, according to a story in the June 7 Los Angeles Times. Whether he's bridging the gap or walking a tightrope is the question.