Gore accuses US of blocking climate talks as EU threatens boycott European nations today threatened to boycott U.S.-sponsored climate talks next month unless the Bush administration compromises and agrees to a "roadmap" for reducing green houses gases blamed for global warming. As the Bali climate conference headed into the final hours, U.S. Nobel laureate Al Gore said the U.S. was "principally responsible" for blocking progress toward agreement on launching negotiations to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. But he urged delegates to reach the required unanimous agreement even if it meant putting aside goals for emissions cuts. "You can do one of two things here," he said. "You can feel anger and frustration and direct it at the United States of America, or you can make a second choice. You can decide to move forward and do all of the difficult work that needs to be done." The United States, Japan, Russia and several other governments are refusing to accept language in a draft document suggesting that rich nations consider cutting emissions by 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020, saying specific targets would limit the scope of future talks....
Bloomberg, in Bali, Warns of Paralysis in Washington Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in Indonesia to attend the United Nations climate change conference, warned on Thursday that the United States government had failed to confront global warming and develop a comprehensive energy policy. The mayor — one of the most prominent local American officials to attend the climate summit — met in Bali on Thursday with James L. Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council of Environmental Quality, and Paula J. Dobriansky, the under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs, who are representing the Bush administration at the summit. The mayor also met with Cameron R. Hume, the United States ambassador to Indonesia. But that did not stop Mr. Bloomberg from criticizing the Bush administration — as well as the Democratic-controlled Congress — for failure to act decisively on climate change....
U.S. Says Push for Emission Cuts Blocking Bali Talks The U.S. shot back today at countries criticizing its opposition to specific targets to cut global warming pollution, saying nations pushing for the reductions are hindering efforts to craft a new climate treaty. The U.S., the only developed nation not to ratify the emissions-limiting Kyoto Protocol, is the main opponent to a United Nations proposal to reduce greenhouse gases by 25 to 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels. France and India are among countries condemning the U.S. for opposing emissions-reductions goals in a proposal aimed at guiding talks to replace the Kyoto treaty, which runs out in five years. They say the Bush administration threatens to stall progress on reaching an agreement by 2009. The U.S. argues all options to curb global warming should be considered and debate over targets should occur over the next two years, not now. ``Those who are suggesting that you can magically find agreement on a metric, when you are just starting negotiations, that in itself is a blocking effort,'' said James Connaughton, the chief environmental adviser to President George W. Bush, who has long opposed mandatory emissions cuts. ``We need to free up this conversation so we can have the deliberation to buy as much consensus and as much collective, constructive engagement as we can,'' Connaughton said today on the Indonesian island of Bali, where almost 200 countries are gathered for a UN meeting to begin talks for a new climate accord....
Study Increases Concerns of Climate Model Reliability A new study comparing the composite output of 22 leading global climate models with actual climate data finds that the models do an unsatisfactory job of mimicking climate change in key portions of the atmosphere. This research, published on-line Wednesday in the Royal Meteorological Society’s International Journal of Climatology*, raises new concerns about the reliability of models used to forecast global warming. “The usual discussion is whether the climate model forecasts of Earth’s climate 100 years or so into the future are realistic,” said the lead author, Dr. David H. Douglass from the University of Rochester. “Here we have something more fundamental: Can the models accurately explain the climate from the recent past? “It seems that the answer is no.” Scientists from Rochester, The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and the University of Virginia compared the climate change “forecasts” from the 22 most widely-cited global circulation models with tropical temperature data collected by surface, satellite and balloon sensors. The models predicted that the lower atmosphere should warm significantly more than it actually did....