| George Bush condemns other countries (such as Iraq) for abdicating international treaties, while at the same time he ignores treaties and agreements that the US is committed to. |
| The Koyoto Treaty Kyoto required industrialized countries to cut their emissions of six gases believed to be exacerbating global warming by an average of 5.2% below their 1990 levels over the next 11 years. Source: BBC News - "Compromise saves climate treaty" -- Monday, July 23, 2001 It would commit the US to cut carbon emissions by 7% below 1990 levels by 2012. Source: The Guardian (UK) - "Bend Coke's ear on Kyoto, say MPs " -- April 11, 2001 George Bush said that the US would not abide by its commitments under the Kyoto agreement on global warming. The president's view is that cutting emissions of greenhouse gases would be bad for the American economy. And in the president's scheme of things, the American economy comes first, second and third. The big polluters of corporate America have received a quick payback for all that campaign funding. Bush's repudiation of the Kyoto agreement has caused outrage in other countries, not because the Americans under Clinton were making great strides towards cutting carbon dioxide emissions (they weren't) but because Bush made it abundantly clear that he thought America's economic might meant that it could blow a big, fat raspberry at the rest of the world. A European Union mission was sent to Washington but, predictably enough, returned empty handed. But all is not lost. There is a way the rest of the world could respond effectively to this expression of American selfishness because it is the rest of the world that is bankrolling America's excessive consumption, which in part, is the reason for its high CO2 emissions. Source: The Guardian (UK) - "It's payback time for Kyoto " by Larry Elliott -- April 9, 2001 Nuclear Weapons Treaties The Senate is expected to vote on its version of the energy and water appropriations bill (S.1424) in September, after the August recess. This includes funding for the Department of Energy's (DOE) nuclear weapons programs. The Administration is seeking $15 million to fund continued research on the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, or nuclear "bunker buster," and $6 million for research on other advanced nuclear weapons concepts. On Friday, July 18, the House passed its version of the energy and water appropriations bill. In a courageous move, the House cut most of the money requested ($10 million of the $15 million request) for a new "bunker buster" nuclear weapon and all of the $6 million allocated for Advanced Concepts for nuclear weapons. This was a great victory for arms control. However, for this victory to be solidified, the Senate must act with the same conscience. The fact that the U.S., an unrivaled global military power, continues to rely on nuclear weapons for its security, reinforces the idea that these weapons can lead to national security. How can the U.S. demand that Iran, North Korea, and others disarm if the U.S. is continuing to develop its arsenal? If the U.S. wants lasting peace and security, new nuclear weapons research is not the correct approach. Source: Friends Comm. on Nat'l Legislation Think about Bush's rejection of international treaties, whether on war crimes, land mines, child labor, women's rights, tobacco control, nuclear testing, small arms regulation, or biological weapons. To take the example of global warming, an international consensus of scientists agrees that it's a real and critical issue. If we fear Islamic terrorism, the desperation that feeds it will hardly be reduced by predicted outcomes like the flooding of Egypt's prime agricultural land, the Nile Valley. But Bush refuses to be bound by either the international scientific consensus or the most modest attempts, like the Kyoto protocol, to enact it into policy. His most recent EPA report on the state of the environment edited out real discussion of the issue entirely. To Bush, the powerful are exempt from any limits on their right to take what they want. Source: WorkingForChange.com - "Lootocracy: Bush tries to exempt powerful from all limits on taking what they want" by Paul Loeb -- 08.21.03 |
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| Comments | Contributor | Date Submitted |
| Not just Bush, the United States have always been doing this...hypocrites! | 10/10/2004 | |
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