MARKEY: AS BUSH HOSTS BLAIR, ADMINISTRATION NEGOTIATORS CUTTING LANGUAGE FROM G8 CLIMATE STATEMENT

Washington, DC - In today’s final meetings between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George Bush, global warming is reportedly high on the agenda. But reports indicate that the Bush administration is cutting key language from the G-8 climate agreement set to be unveiled at the body’s next meeting in Germany in early June, a reprise of the regressive role adopted by the Bush Administration at earlier international summits such as the 2005 G-8 summit which Blair hosted at Gleneagles.

This follows the Rose Garden announcement earlier this week from the White House on their plan to cut gasoline use and heat-trapping emissions from vehicles. Bush’s reiterated his “twenty in ten” plan, which includes a goal of increasing fuel economy standards by 4 percent a year for ten years, but does not have any mandatory elements and would not be a completed proposal until three weeks before the President leaves office.

“When it comes to making progress on combating the threat of global warming, President Bush has become very adept at the cynical game of maintaining a sunny demeanor while ordering his operatives to rain on the climate change parade,” said Rep. Edward Markey, Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. “The President needs to tell his minions to re-engage with the international community on global warming, not continue their resistance.”

U.S. negotiators are reportedly trying to expunge several important parts of the G-8 climate statement, including the need to keep global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius; that dealing with global warming is an “imperative not a choice”; and targets on reducing global warming emissions.

This follows a similar event in late April, where President Bush discussed achieving progress on global warming with E.U. leaders at the U.S.--E.U. summit in Washington. Meanwhile, half a world away, in Bangkok, Thailand, the U.S. delegation was criticizing the findings of the IPCC and downplaying the importance of stabilizing emissions, specifically disputing recommendations from European governments.

“This President should not allow time zones to determine which action he will take and what position suits his administration,” continued Chairman Markey. “The ocean separating his administration and countries worried about global warming is only matched by the ocean separating the President’s rhetoric from his actions.”

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