Bush signs on for clean air in China, India

US President George W. Bush has pledged to help developing nations like China and India cut back on their fast-growing output of the greenhouse gases linked to global warming. Bush signed a pact with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder earlier this week to help poorer countries adopt more energy-efficient technologies in power generation, transportation and industry.

Although the pact lacked specific commitments for new spending, analysts say it could help take political pressure off US, the world’s largest polluter, and remove a major obstacle to achieving the goals set out in the Kyoto Protocol. —NYT