It makes me ashamed of my government

The Washington Post reports today:

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon conceded Wednesday that the United States had succeeded in achieving one of its key objectives at the climate conference here, blocking a proposal that called on industrialized nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40 percent by 2020.

Having jettisoned the idea of incorporating specific emissions targets in the framework that will guide international climate talks over the next two years, participants were hoping to find other ways to make meaningful progress here in the two-week-long meeting of nearly 190 nations.

While Yahoo! News reports:

The European Union and the United States accused each other on Thursday of blocking a deal to launch negotiations on a new global warming treaty as the clock ran down on U.N. climate talks in Bali.

The United Nations warned the 190-nation meeting, meant to end on Friday, that continuing deadlock meant there was a risk that the talks would collapse "like a house of cards" and take the momentum out of international efforts to slow warming.

Comment: Certainly China and India will have to do their part in the next century to fight climate change, but the United States as the world's richest nation and biggest source of greenhouse gases should be leading in getting to a global agreement.

Sadly, I find myself believing foreign critics, rather than my own government on this issue.

The Bush administration will be remembered and reviled by history as blocking efforts when they were possible to reduce climate change! JAD

Source: Climate Change Prediction Program