Posted on 09/04/2002 7:41:08 AM PDT by tom paine 2
Repeatedly interrupted by jeers and protests from environmentalists, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the Bush administration’s environmental record and its efforts to help the poor in the developing world at the Earth Summit’s closing day Wednesday.
“THE U.S. is taking action to meet environmental challenges, including global climate change,” Powell said to loud booing from the rear of a hall filled with government leaders and delegates ranging from youth activists to environmentalists.
The Bush administration has been strongly criticized by leaders and activists for rejecting the Kyoto Protocol, which many countries view as crucial for reversing a global warming trend that many scientists tie to a manmade increase in “greenhouse” gases like carbon dioxide.
On Tuesday, Russia promised to ratify Kyoto, a move that would bring the historic accord on cutting greenhouse gases into effect despite U.S. opposition.
The United States has said it was taking many other actions to fight global warming, but that Kyoto’s strictures were inappropriate and too costly for the U.S. economy.
Washington also had been hammered for resisting binding targets to increase the use of renewable energy sources, and for President Bush’s decision not to attend the summit.
As Powell spoke, delegates from environmental groups repeatedly interrupted him, shouting “Shame on Bush.” Two people held up a banner reading, “Betrayed by governments.”
Thirteen people were removed by security during the speech.
Powell looked annoyed, answering back, “Thank you, I have now heard you. I ask that you hear me.”
South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who was chairing the session, yelled at the hecklers to stop and called the outbursts “totally unacceptable.”
The boos and jeers began when Powell criticized the government of Zimbabwe for exacerbating the food crisis in that country and pushing “millions of people to the brink of starvation.”
He also criticized Zambia, which is also facing a hunger crisis, for rejecting genetically engineered corn that Americans eat every day.
‘THIS KIND OF THING HAPPENS’
Powell also repeated the U.S. explanation for resisting setting specific target dates for action on the summit’s goals, saying that concrete actions were more important than paper agreements.
“Plans are good but actions can put clean water in the mouths of thirsty young girls and boys, prevent the transmission of the deadly (AIDS) virus from mother to child and preserve the biodiversity of a fragile African ecosystem.”
Powell stayed calm during the jeers, the first such incident during the 10-day summit.
“His (Powell’s) comment was ‘this kind of thing happens’,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
“We are confident that that interruption doesn’t represent widespread opinion nor does it represent the kind of progress and serious effort that we are making here,” Boucher said.
“He (Powell) actually was delayed getting to his next meeting because of all the people coming out to shake his hand and congratulate him as he exited the hall.”
ACTIVISTS UNHAPPY WITH SUMMIT
The 10-day summit ending Wednesday was envisaged as an unprecedented global gathering to refocus the world’s attention on the plight of the poor and the destruction of the environment.
Ahead of Powell’s appearance, activists complained that the international gathering had failed in its mission to tackle poverty and protect the Earth.
While there were a few marginal achievements — mainly in the protection of fisheries and plans to bring sanitation to the poor — much of the summit was a desperate fight to stop governments from weakening already existing agreements, they said.
“The wealthy nations have their heads in the sand,” Sen. Bob Brown from Australia’s Greens party said. “The world’s being let down. The interests of the next generation have been appallingly disenfranchised.”
Added Andrew Deutz, an official with the World Conservation Union: “We’re running on a treadmill. We are running just as fast as we can to prevent ourselves from moving backward. It’s a missed opportunity.”
RENEWABLE ENERGY HURDLE
Renewable energy proved to be the biggest sticking point in a 70-page final declaration that is billed as a follow-up to the goals of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
After losing its push for targets on the use of wind and solar energy, the European Union said it would form a coalition of “like-minded countries and regions” willing to commit to strict timetables for increasing renewable energy.
Many developing countries had sided with the United States, oil exporting countries and Japan against including the targets in the summit’s plan, arguing they were a rich country’s luxury.
The text agreed to late Tuesday includes a commitment to “urgently” increase the use of renewable energy sources, but says cleaner use of fossil fuels is also acceptable.
Summit Secretary-General Nitin Desai praised the final declaration as a strong blueprint for sustainable development but acknowledged that it was not binding.
“The test is whether governments, along with civil society and the private sector, can pursue the commitments that are in the document and take actions that achieve measurable results,” he said.
Bush just this minute said on tv that the credibility of "the rest of the world" is at stake. LOVE IT! Turn around their bullcrap and shove it in their faces.
My response to the Third World, from the Productive Nations: You first. . .
No, it's the third world nations that have their head in the sand. They don't realize they are the problem.
I don't think that's far enough. Weren't humans hunting and killing animals in the stone age?
Nope, get rid of most of those pesky people, so the earth can be pristine and wild again. Remember, electricity is our enemy. Let them sit around in loincloths playing with rocks. And if they die of disease, what the hey, it's natural.
Isn't that how the leftist melodrama always goes?
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