Bird in the Bush

GEORGE W. BUSH8217;S America has been so late to acknowledge the reality of climate change that any admission from him that an ambitious plan is necessary to curb carbon dioxide emissions comes as a sign of hope. In a speech this week, he said that the US would take the initiative in getting together the world8217;s biggest polluters to work out consensus on an action plan. Sceptics argue that the speech has two aims. One, to cut the lecturing the US could receive at the forthcoming G8 meet hosted by Germany, a country which has taken the lead in achieving sharp cuts in emission. Two, by talking of building a consensus, the US president could be leaving the tough work of actual implementation to his successor.

Either way, the sceptics are failing to see the bright side. In sharp contrast to the kind of denial on climate change that informed the Bush administration8217;s position on the Kyoto Protocol, this week8217;s speech indicates its resignation that America 8212; the world8217;s biggest polluter, responsible for some 30 per cent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions 8212; has to be seen to be part of the solution. At least the other industrialised nations will not have to waste time on getting the US to agree to the subject, as they once did. And given the fact that Democrat and Republican aspirants for the US presidential nomination are committed to curbing emissions, Bush8217;s team would be conscious of appearing almost hedonistic if they don8217;t leave a record of at least some achievement on this.

So, what can be done right away? Given the extreme queasiness of American administrations to do anything that affects consumer spending, it is doubtful whether the country would accede without pressure to a hefty carbon tax. Yet, that pressure must be applied on the US by European governments if their own ambitious proposals are to make enough difference. And decision of conscience on avoiding polluting technologies is beginning to increasingly matter with consumers. The industrialised countries must know that the burden of fostering research in non-polluting technologies comes with their economic might. It will not work to blame progress on India and China, which in per capita terms are not polluters on the same scale.