What a joke.
Bush Plans On Global Warming Alter Little
Voluntary Programs Attract Few Firms
By Guy Gugliotta and Eric Pianin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, January 1, 2004; Page A01
Two years after President Bush declared he could combat global warming without mandatory controls, the administration has launched a broad array of initiatives and research, yet it has had little success in recruiting companies to voluntarily curb their greenhouse gas emissions, according to official documents, reports and interviews.
[...]
Only a tiny fraction of the thousands of U.S. companies with pollution problems -- 50 in all -- have joined Climate Leaders, and of the companies that have signed up, only 14 have set goals.
[...]
Many of the companies with the worst pollution records have shunned the voluntary programs because even a voluntary commitment would necessitate costly cleanups or possibly could set the stage for future government regulation, according to industry insiders.
[...]
Bush promoted his voluntary initiatives after he abandoned a campaign pledge to impose mandatory controls on carbon dioxide emissions and then formally disavowed the 1997 accord negotiated by the United States and 158 other countries in Kyoto, Japan, which would impose mandatory caps on greenhouse emissions in developed countries.
[...]
But James L. Connaughton, the White House environmental policy chief, said recently that the Bush program is working, and that private-sector companies and groups that strongly opposed the Kyoto treaty "are now coming forward in what we would say is a more economically rational and more sensible policy environment."
Yeah, right. The Bushies are masters of empty rhetoric.
Bush has repeatedly opposed mandatory controls, including a bill sponsored by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) to impose caps on greenhouse gas emissions from utilities and other industries. That bill was rejected in the Senate late last year, by a vote of 55 to 43.
As bad as Lieberman is, he does seem pretty decent on the environment.
Instead, the president called for more research and voluntary measures. "My approach recognizes that economic growth is the solution, not the problem," Bush said in his Valentine's Day speech.
Ehhh...no, not really. It's kind of part of the problem (though that's one of those things you can't really say, politically).
No Specific Goals
Most of the 190 major U.S. utility companies represented by the Edison Electric Institute prefer to participate in an industry-created program called "Power Partners," which does not require companies to commit to specific goals.
"Under Power Partners, there's obviously greater flexibility, and it encourages companies to do what they can, recognizing that some can do more than others," said Dan Riedinger, a spokesman for the utility industry group. "But it tries not to leave any company behind just because they can't make a specific numerical commitment at this point."
So what is "PowerPartners" then? Just some meaningless label? Some brochures to send around, or a few seminars to attend?