President wrong to ignore issue of CO2 emissions

When President George W. Bush decided last week to stop pushing for limits on carbon dioxide emissions, he not only broke his campaign pledge not to do so -- he also took steps to stop a program that would have protected the environment. \nDuring a campaign speech, Bush promised he would work to decrease carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, a move that pleased environmentalists. Carbon dioxide acts as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, trapping heat closer to the earth.\nIn his Sept. 29 speech, "A Comprehensive Energy Policy," Bush said, "We will require all power plants to meet clear air standards in order to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide within a reasonable period of time."\nThen, last week, despite urgings from his own EPA administrator, Bush rescinded his promise and stopped seeking lower emissions.\nWhat's worse, today Bush is sending a delegate to an international conference to discuss the Kyoto Protocol, a multi-nation treaty to stop global warming, without a U.S. policy on global warming. \nBush has confirmed that he does not support the Kyoto Protocol because it is not in the United States' best interests. But he has not offered any alternatives to the problem of global warming.\nChristine Todd Whitman, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will go to the conference unauthorized to make any environmental concessions to the group on behalf of the United States.\nWorld leaders, most prominently German chancellor Gerhard Schroder, have spoken strongly Bush's stance on this issue.\nAlthough Bush is right that energy problems -- particularly on the West Coast -- have significantly increased since he made the campaign promise, that doesn't negate the importance of the environment.\nProtecting Earth and its atmosphere is essential regardless of any energy crisis. A moderate increase in prices is easily balanced against the cost of destroying our earth and increasing global warming.\nBush's decision focuses on the short-term problem and ignores the long-term catastrophe that this program would have helped prevent.\nStaff vote: 8 - 5 - 1 (yes - no - abstain)