Bush sets new goal to curb emissions

WASHINGTON — President Bush set a new target date Wednesday for stopping the growth of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions by 2025, presenting a strategy that some said is too little, too late, to prevent dangerous global warming.

Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Bush acknowledged that climate change is a problem but called for a slow approach to dealing with it that won't raise taxes, burden U.S. businesses or be run by judges working off the Clean Air Act, which he said wasn't meant to address climate change.

Bush said the main way to curb U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions was to "rapidly slow the growth" of emissions from the nation's power plants, which are responsible for about 40 percent of the nation's emissions, within 10 to 15 years.

He offered no new initiatives. Instead, he spoke of an "economywide strategy that builds on the solid foundation that we have in place," such as recently passed legislation that raises auto fuel-economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 and tax incentives for private research and new technology to attack the problem.

Scientists, environmental groups and some lawmakers said that Bush's recommendations were an attempt to derail more serious climate-change legislation in Congress.

Bush's goal would allow emissions to be 28 percent above 1990 levels in 2025, according to calculations made by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, that are based on U.S. government projections data.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that to prevent average global temperatures from rising more than 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit — the level it set as a danger zone — global emissions would have to peak by 2015 and decline to as little as 15 percent of 2000 levels by 2050. The panel is affiliated with the United Nations.

A bill sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va., would seek to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by midcentury to 66 percent below 2005 levels, while allowing companies to trade pollution rights. House leaders are also drafting legislation.

Bush's plan is less ambitious than ones being pursued by a number of states, including Washington. Last year, Gov. Christine Gregoire issued an executive order calling for rolling emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020. By 2050 she wants emissions at half of the 1990 levels. Those goals were endorsed by the state Legislature. By comparison, Bush called for emissions to start dropping in 2025.

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, dismissed Bush's proposal as "grossly short of what the nation both needs and is capable of."

Inslee said that without firm and enforceable limits on greenhouse-gas emissions, industries won't have enough reason to adopt newer, cleaner technology.

Washington is also part of a coalition of Western states and two Canadian provinces working to create a shared system for reducing greenhouse gases. They have vowed to cut their collective emissions to 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. The group includes California, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Montana, British Columbia and Manitoba.

Some congressional Republicans said they welcomed that the president is becoming more engaged on the issue.

"The president has articulated a progressive vision for a comprehensive solution to climate change," said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who has voiced concern about the economic cost of the Senate climate bill.

Seattle Times staff reporter Warren Cornwall contributed to this report. Material from the Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press is included in this report.