MEDIA REACTION: GLOBAL ECONOMY: BUSH'S SPEECH ON CLIMATE

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000475

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD

DEPT PASS USTR

USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: GLOBAL ECONOMY: BUSH'S SPEECH ON CLIMATE
CHANGE; SAO PAULO



1. "Preemptive Attack"

Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo (6/1)
editorialized: "In what seems to be a preemptive attack against the
tough criticism the U.S. would suffer at the G8 Summit - to take
place next week in Germany - because of his position on climate
change, President George W. Bush launched yesterday a new proposal
to try to stop the planet's abnormal heating.... The acceptance of
goals by President Bush signals a turning point in his position....
But there is no reason for one to believe that he has really bent to
the environmental question. His gesture seems to be rather
pragmatic. By announcing the initiative on the eve of his departure
to Germany, Bush not only softens pressures that he would have faced
from his European colleagues, but also practically ensures that the
summit will not make decisions on the climate problem. Moreover, the
U.S. proposal also tramples ongoing negotiations in regards to the
second stage of the Kyoto Protocol, and this tends to make advances
on such a global discussion more difficult. In the implausible
hypothesis that the White House's initiative will succeed, something
that would not happen before the end of 2008, it would not be Bush,
but his successor, that would have to face the economic burden."


2. "The Speech Changes, But Not The Position"

Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo's
science editor Claudio Angelo commented (6/1): "Who believes in
George Walker Bush?.... Alone internationally and domestically, Bush
has no longer succeeded in maintaining the rhetoric denying global
climate change. But his position remains the same. The speech he
delivered yesterday is purposively vague, contradictory and includes
an oxymoron ('clean coal') among the solutions for the environmental
problem. Actually, the U.S. 'proposal' limits itself to calling a
meeting to discuss objectives (thereby reinventing the wheel, since
both the Climate Panel and the UN Climate convention have this goal)
and reach an agreement by 2008. But in 2008, Bush will be likely
replaced by a Democrat president. Therefore, in addition to not
doing anything, he is pushing the burden of the decision to his
successor.... Bush's new plan is not only ingenuous, but also
pernicious: by kicking the debate to 2008, he automatically cancels
the G8's hopes of producing this month a solid multilateral
agreement to prevent global warming.... What remains to be seen is
whether the European Union and Japan will believe in the Texan's
talk - which despite the sheep's clothing, continues to be as toxic
as always."
McMullen