This should hardly come as a surprise, but according to the UK Guardian, the Bush administration is working very hard to undercut Blair at the G8 summit both on global warming. The Observer (part of the Guardian) managed to get its hands on some of the documents that are part of the Bush administration's submission to the G8 meeting next month. Here is some of what the
story has to say:
The documents obtained by The Observer represent an attempt by the Bush administration to undermine completely the science of climate change and show that the US position has hardened during the G8 negotiations. They also reveal that the White House has withdrawn from a crucial United Nations commitment to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions.
More (if you can stomach it...) below the fold.
Basically, according to the Observer, the Bushies have edited every reference to global warming being caused or influenced by human activity out of the summit communique. They even refuse to admit that the world is warming at all:
Another section erased by the White House adds: 'Our world is warming. Climate change is a serious threat that has the potential to affect every part of the globe. And we know that ... mankind's activities are contributing to this warming. This is an issue we must address urgently.'
The reporter goes on to say "that many UK officials have become exasperated by the Bush administration's refusal" to accept global warming, but does not say what they intend to do about it. Africa also gets a mention; this is another of Blair's priorities, and one which Bush actually did pledge to help on, though here too he is leaving to twist in the wind:
Washington also appears to be unsympathetic towards the plight of Africa, the other priority singled out by Blair for the G8 Summit in Gleneagles.
The documents reveal how the Bush administration has pulled out of financial pledges to fund a network of regional climate centres throughout Africa which were designed to monitor the unfolding impact of global warming.
The London Sunday Times has a similar story, but it doesn't put quite as sharp a slant on it as the Guardian does, suggesting that Bush is merely trying to change the G8 comminique but hasn't succeeded. Yet.
TONY BLAIR is fighting moves by President Bush to water down the G8 plan for action on global warming at next month's Gleneagles summit.
Whitehall officials are frantically negotiating with their G8 counterparts over the text of the final communiqué.
Yesterday they played down the leak of a draft showing that crucial sentences on climate change were under threat from the White House.
Meantime, This is London suggests that Blair has already caved in to Bush on global warming. The Kansas City Star has also picked up this story, as did ABC News yesterday, and a few other places around the US.
With the Guardian/Observer and the Times headlines tomorrow morning, this should be adding to Blair's headaches. He already knew, of course, that he was going to have trouble getting Bush on board with global warming in any form, but as ABC quoted from Friends of the Earth expert Catherine Pearce: "Blair and his advisers always knew exactly what the U.S. position was. But the impression is that they really believed they could force a change."
Evidently not. And now Blair is in the position of having to either drop a long-cherished project of his, one that he desperately believes is essential to the survival of the planet, or else piss off his major ally and one to whom he has tied his own political fortunes. Care to guess which way he'll go? Any British bloggers here want to chime in?