Bush outlines climate change strategy
President Bush announces his non-binding goal to cut greenhouse emissions today, while Congress debates its climate legislation. Does either go far enough? Sam Eaton, from the Marketplace Sustainability Desk, reports.
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Renita Jablonski: President Bush plans to outline his goal for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Today's announcement comes as Congress prepares to debate its own climate legislation. From the Marketplace Sustainability Desk, Sam Eaton reports.
Sam Eaton: The White House will announce what it calls a realistic, non-binding goal for curbing CO2 emissions. But don't look for any specific proposals. Instead Bush is expected to outline a strategy for developing new technologies to reduce greenhouse gasses. He'll also call on nations like China and India to establish reduction targets of their own. But David Doniger with the Natural Resources Defense Council says that's not enough.
David Doniger: Targets are just aspirations, and without some law in which the marketplace is set up so that these reductions have to be made and there are incentives to do it and penalties for not doing it, it won't happen.
Doniger says the McCain-Lieberman proposal in the Senate represents the bare minimum needed to avert the worst effects of climate change. But the Bush administration opposes the bill's mandatory cap on CO2 emissions.
I'm Sam Eaton for Marketplace.
