Originally published Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Editorial
The G-8's tepid resolve
The world's leading economies, meeting in Japan as the Group of Eight, pledged to lose 20 pounds, exercise every day and eat a healthy...
The world's leading economies, meeting in Japan as the Group of Eight, pledged to lose 20 pounds, exercise every day and eat a healthy, sensible diet.
They actually agreed to cut global greenhouse-gas emissions in half by 2050, but the net effect has the familiar ring of an empty New Year's resolution.
As a practical matter, the distant date and absence of intermediate steps and benchmarks drains away any sense of urgency or credible substance.
The plan pledges money instead of leadership and talks in lawyerly ways about looping in emerging economies before broader global-warming initiatives are embraced.
For all of the feel-good quality of the proposal, no one is impressed or fooled, including the secretary-general of the United Nations and the head of the World Bank.
Host Japan and European countries have more ambitious national standards. The tepid response by the G-8 nations is lamented as a lost opportunity to build momentum toward a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, which has never been embraced by the Bush administration and begins to expire in 2012.
The G-8 statement puts great stock in technology as a solution, and would invest $10 billion annually to help other countries to pursue and employ the fruits of research.
The missing ingredient is leadership by example that combines changes in old habits and expectations with new ways to think about global warming in the wealthiest countries. That's a glaring and transparent omission.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
Charles Krauthammer / Syndicated columnist: New York trial a propaganda coup for terrrorists

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
8 Drawer Dresser with Attached Mirror - $200
8 seat pecon formal dining table and china hutch - $1500
A American Table, Chairs and Bench - $275
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
Give yourself a treat and visit Watson Kennedy's Holiday Open Houses
More minding the store
events for Monday, Nov. 23
- REI Winter Sale
- Alhambra 20 Percent Off Jewelry Sale
- All About Weddings and Celebrations November ...
- Karan Dannenberg Clothier Black Friday Sale
editors' picks
- West Seattle shopping
- Local jewelry designers
- Phinney Ridge & Greenwood shopping
- Neighborhood shopping
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
342 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
201 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
170 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
140 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
94 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
86 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
80 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
72 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
66 - UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
65
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit



