U.S. tries to block support for policies on global warming

By Juliet Eilperin
The Washington Post

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The group working on the report has concluded Arctic latitudes face historic increases in temperature, glacial melting and abrupt weather changes. State Department representatives have argued that the group lacks evidence to prepare detailed policy proposals.

Several participants in the negotiations, all of whom requested anonymity for fear of derailing the Nov. 24 report, said officials from the eight nations and six indigenous tribes involved in the effort had ample science on which to draft policy.

The recommendations are based on a four-year study, leaked last week, that concludes the Arctic is warming much more quickly than other areas, and that much of this change is linked to human-generated greenhouse-gas emissions.

The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment — produced by a council of nations with Arctic territory that includes the United States, Canada, Russia and several Nordic countries — reflects the work of more than 300 scientists.

Several sources said the Bush administration — which opposes mandatory cuts in carbon emissions on the grounds they will cost American jobs — repeatedly resisted even mild language that would endorse the report's scientific findings or call for mandatory curbs on greenhouse-gas emissions.

An early draft of the policy statement — scheduled to be issued two weeks after the 144-page scientific overview is released Monday — included a paragraph that says to achieve the goals set under a 1992 international climate-change treaty known as the Rio Accord, the "Arctic Council urges the member states to individually and when appropriate, jointly, adopt climate change strategies across relevant sectors. These strategies should aim at the reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases."

The administration has pushed to drop that section. One senior State Department official, who asked not to be identified, said, "We're bound by the administration's position. We're not going to make global climate policy at the Arctic Council."

Samantha Smith, director of The World Wildlife Fund's Arctic Program, said the council's scientific conclusions justified immediate action.

The findings said temperature increases in some parts of the Arctic increased tenfold compared with the previous century's worldwide average rise of 1 degree Fahrenheit.

"This is the first full-scale assessment of climate change in the Arctic, and it shows dramatic changes in the region, with worse to come if we don't cut emissions," said Smith, an observer at the negotiations.
 
"We challenge the Arctic governments to come up with a real response to the science, before the foreign ministers meet in Iceland in November."

Administration officials said they are hesitant to endorse policy recommendations before examining the full 1,200-page scientific report.