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US rejects global warming pact By Toby Harnden in Washington THE United States has abandoned the 1997 Kyoto Treaty on global warming because it is against its economic interests, the White House said last night.

Under the agreement, Washington was required to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a third by 2012. But Ari Fleischer, spokesman for President George Bush, said: "The president has been unequivocal. He does not support the treaty." Asked whether America would pull out of the pact, designed to combat global warming, Mr Fleischer said it had not taken effect so "there was nothing to withdraw from".

He emphasised that of the 55 nations who agreed on the treaty, only Romania had formally ratified the accord. President Clinton did sign the agreement in 1998, but it has never undergone the process of Senate ratification which completes a Treaty in US law. Mr Bush's principal objections focused on the controls lacking for developing nations, such as China and India, whose emissions could one day rival the US.

However, the president's decision follows intense lobbying from coal and oil companies, many of which supported Mr Bush in his closely contested election campaign, and congressional conservatives who opposed the deal.

Democrats have attacked Mr Bush's position. Dick Gephardt, the House of Representaives minority leader, said: "This is a go-it-alone American policy on the environment and it must not stand. We have to turn it around." Criticism is unlikely to remain within Congress.

The White House comments came the day before the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, meets Mr Bush. Mr Schröder, whose government includes a strong green contingent, asked his American counterpart to abide by Kyoto in a letter last week.

His concerns were echoed by the European Commissioner for the Environment, Margot Wallstrom. She said: "It is very worrying if it is true that the US intends to pull out of the Kyoto protocol."

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001