G8 climate statement edited into submission to appease U.S.
An action plan on climate change being prepared for July’s G8 summit has been substantially weakened in the lead-up to the meeting, the latest leaked draft anemic even by the not-terribly-strenuous standards of, uh, the last leaked draft. References to “setting ambitious targets and timetables” for cutting globe-warming emissions and calls for funding of R&D into clean technologies and fuels have been expunged from the document, and a statement about the world’s top scientists calling for action has been marked with square brackets, meaning the text is controversial and may be dumped. On the other hand, “zero-carbon” nuclear power is explicitly endorsed. Some suspect the edits are concessions by U.K. Prime Minister and G8 meeting host Tony Blair to his ally-cum-daddy President Bush. But Blair may ultimately be forced to choose between keeping Bush on board and leading the rest of the G8 industrialized nations in cooling the planet. Says one climate activist, “The twin targets of trying to get something done on climate change and getting George Bush to sign up to it just don’t go together.”
