U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday called for the end of increasing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, despite the Kyoto Protocol. Speaking at the White House Rose Garden, Bush declared his “new national goal” to stop greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 by “more rapidly slow[ing] the growth of power-sector greenhouse gas emissions so that they peak within 10 to 15 years, and decline thereafter.” Bush's comments came a day before the Major Economies Meeting in Paris, which is set to address the world's greatest polluters. Ministers from 16 economies that together account for 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are gathering in Paris for the meeting, which is the third in a series launched last September by Bush. During his address, Bush again criticized the Kyoto Protocol, which the United States has not signed onto, and which Bush calls a “failed approach” to lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Kyoto is set to expire in 2012. Bush has maintained that Kyoto fails to apply binding gas targets on fast-growing economies such as China and India, and said the United States would not take unilateral action that imperils American industry and jobs. “The right way is to ensure that all major economies are bound to take action and to work cooperatively with our partners for a fair and effective international climate agreement,” Bush said.
