Vance

DAVOS, Switzerland - The United States, realizing it cannot defeat global threats like terrorism alone, must cooperate to fight other planetary challenges like climate change, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday.

"Interdependence is no longer disputed," said Blair, speaking to a forum of business and political leaders. "If America wants the rest of the world to be part of the agenda it has set, it must be part of their agenda too."

President Bush's inauguration speech last week showed the United States realized it could not defeat terror threats just by military means or on its own, said Blair, one of the U.S. leader's staunchest allies.

Defending the speech, which was accused of not reflecting the reality of U.S. policies, Blair said its support for extending democracy and liberty "emphatically puts defeating the causes of terrorism alongside defeating the terrorists."

Blair said after international divisions over the war in Iraq, there was "a wish to re-unify." He has predicted Bush's second term would see more account taken of the views of Europe, which the president visits next month on a fence-mending trip.

There was common purpose in fighting global terrorism, extending democracy and seeking peace in the Middle East, said Blair, stressing that those issues and his agenda for this year's Group of Eight presidency could not be decoupled.

Blair wants to focus British leadership of the G8 group of leading industrialized nations on relieving poverty and disease in Africa and on combating climate change.

But the Bush administration has little enthusiasm for mandatory action to tackle the warming of the planet.

It has refused to sign up to the Kyoto protocol on cutting emissions thought to cause global warming, arguing it would cost U.S. jobs and unfairly burden developed states while imposing no obligation on poorer polluting states such as China and India.

LOW COST CLIMATE SOLUTION

A broad belief in Europe that scientists have proved global warming is a reality is not so widely shared in the United States. The evidence of climate change had been clearly and persuasively advocated by a very large number of entirely independent and compelling voices, said Blair. "The majority is not always right. But they deserve to be listened to."

If governments proposed solutions involving drastic but justified cuts in growth or living standards they would not be agreed, Blair conceded.

But global warming could be tackled without enormous economic cost through more intelligent use of science, a greater contribution by rapidly developing economies and market mechanisms like emissions trading, he argued.

"We need to send a clear signal that whilst we continue to analyze science ... we are united in moving in the direction of greenhouse gas reductions," said Blair.

An international panel of experts this week described global warming as an "ecological time bomb" and warned that without fast action carbon concentrations would push global temperatures up from pre-industrial times by 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

That level would trigger "substantial agricultural losses, greatly increased numbers of people at risk of water shortages, and widespread adverse health impacts," the panel warned.

Blair used his speech to repeat his call for more aid for Africa, faster debt relief, imaginative financing of help for the continent and a dismantling of unfair trade barriers.

He speaks on a panel on Africa on Thursday with rock star Bono, South African President Thabo Mbeki, Microsoft chief Bill Gates and former U.S. president Bill Clinton.

Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...davos_blair_dc


But wait, there is more... Oil firms fund campaign to deny climate change. Of course, oil firms do not care about environment. That's America corporations for you. No wonder why Bush refused to sign the Kyoto Treaty.

Deafness

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ravensteve1961

I got a comment to ask tony blair. PROVE IT!!!!

Gemtun

Did you actually read the article???? Read again and you will see evidence there and it is not just Blair but several many other folks as well.

Do not be so blind in your loyalty to Bush that you have " selective reading".

ravensteve1961

Thats not proof. Thats just hotwater hype talk. If britan wants to bankrupt the peoples wallets thats their business. But america and bush should look the other way.

Vance

Yep Meg is correct.

ravensteve, you have selective reading problem. Many and many scientists repeatedly proved. Read this article again and again then again.

ravensteve1961

If Global warming is so real then you wouldnt be seeing this now would you?

Gemtun

Come to Oregon right now, Raven and you will see flowers sprouting everywhere and that it is damn warm that we are not even wearing coats. When you are here, you need to look at Mt. Hood to see how it is not truly blanketed with snow.

Beowulf

Global warming is very paradoxical. The warmer the atmosphere gets, the more ice melts from the polar caps, the colder the oceans will become, and hence the world will eventually become COLDER because of global warming.

ravensteve1961

Whats wrong with being cold? I love cold! The Colder the better.

Vance

Simple but good explanation

sequoias

another ice age? We'll see, no one knows what will happen