AFTER years of denial over global warming, President George W. Bush now seems willing to tackle the issue 鈥� in words, at least. And he has army backing: 鈥淐limate change is and will be a significant threat to our national security and in a larger sense to life on Earth,鈥� said General Gordon Sullivan, former chief of staff of the US army in written testimony to Congress on 27 September.
The next day, Bush hosted a summit of representatives from leading greenhouse gas emitting nations at which he called for curbing emissions to be made a long-term goal. He repeated his opposition to a mandatory cap on emissions, however. Each nation must decide for itself how to achieve results, he said.
Despite the president鈥檚 opposition to mandatory cuts, found that 68 per cent of Americans would support an international treaty requiring the US to cut its emissions of CO2 by 90 per cent by 2050. The poll was conducted by Yale University, Gallup and the ClearVision Institute.
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鈥淭wo-thirds of Americans would support a treaty requiring emissions cuts鈥�
As the president spoke at the White House, it emerged that the greater metropolitan area of , according to a report released by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, along with calculations made by The Washington Post.
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