Oil industry still dictating climate policy

The UN-backed meeting in Bali, Indonesia this week to combat global warming, will not sway the U.S. to play along. This is no great surprise. Dr. Harlan L. Watson, Senior Climate Negotiator and head of the US delegation, said neither a recent U.S. Senate committee move to limit greenhouse gas emissions or the decision by Australia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol would influence their stance.

Environmentalists are unhappy with Dr. Harlan Watson’s unwillingness to bend to international pressure and commit the U.S. to deep greenhouse gas emissions cuts. He acts more as a spokesman for touting the Bush administration’s record on climate change, which clearly favors the oil industry. He says there is no reason the United States and other countries that oppose mandatory carbon dioxide limits should have to talk about what should be done once the Kyoto Protocol, which aims to cut global greenhouse gases by 7 percent by 2012, expires.

Bush picked Watson in 2001 for the lead negotiator’s job because of Watson’s popularity and close alliance with the oil industry. This appointment has nothing to do with combating global warming in any meaningful way. In fact his appointment was a clear signal that the Bush administration would not do anything that would jeopardize oil industry profit.

Watson claims the U.S. is hoping to come up with their own set of figures on cuts when a meeting of 17 nations that are major emitters of greenhouse gases, organized by U.S. President George Bush, takes place next year. You can bet these 17 nations are all oil producers and therefore nothing constructive will come up concerning cleaning up the air we all breathe.