US climate negotiators refused to back down in their opposition to mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions yesterday, even as a US Senate panel endorsed sharp reductions in pollution blamed for global warming.
The US, the world's largest producer of such gases, has resisted calls for strict limits on emissions at the UN climate conference, which is aimed at launching negotiations for an agreement to follow the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012.
The US climate stance suffered a blow when the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a bill on Wednesday to cut US emissions by 70 percent by 2050 from electric power plants, manufacturing and transportation. The bill now goes to the full Senate.
US negotiator Harlan Watson, however, said that would not impact Washington's position in Bali.
"In our process, a vote for movement of a bill out of committee does not ensure its ultimate passage," he told reporters. "I don't know the details, but we will not alter our posture here."
The two-week conference, which opened on Monday, has broken into a tense standoff between two camps, with a majority supporting mandatory emissions cuts on one side, and opponents such as the US on the other, delegates said.
Scientists say the world must act quickly to slash greenhouse gas emissions and limit the rise in global temperatures or risk triggering devastating droughts and flooding, strangling world food production and killing off animal species.
Washington's isolation in Bali has increased following Australia's announcement on Monday that it had reversed its opposition to the Kyoto pact and started the ratification process -- winning applause at the conference's opening session. That left the US as the only industrialized nation to oppose the agreement.
The Australian delegation said yesterday Canberra supports a UN document that mentioned cutting greenhouse gas emissions by between 25 percent and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. The government has already proposed 60 percent cuts by 2050.
However, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd refused yesterday to commit to the 2020 figures, saying it was premature to set firm targets before he receives a comprehensive report he has commissioned on the issue next year.
The US Senate action cheered environmentalists and others in Bali clamoring for dramatic action to stop global warming. UN climate chief Yvo de Boer led off his daily briefing yesterday by hailing the "encouraging sign" from the US.
"This is a very welcome development," Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists said of the Senate measure. "It shows the increasing isolation of the Bush administration in terms of US policy on this issue."
Further momentum for serious greenhouse gas cuts came from a petition released yesterday by a group of at least 215 climate scientists who urged the world to reduce emissions by half by 2050.
"We have to start reducing greenhouse gas emissions as soon as we possibly can," said Australian climatologist Matthew England, a group spokesman. "It needs action. We're talking about now."
Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said the mood in the closed-door negotiations was "serious, apprehensive," but that there were hopes the US would slowly change its stance.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS