SumSam
December 14th, 2007, 02:05 AM
Gore blasts US obstruction (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/12/13/1197135662680.html)
Marian Wilkinson and Mark Forbes
December 14, 2007
FORMER US vice-president Al Gore has made a dramatic 11th-hour intervention at the faltering climate change talks in Bali, accusing his own country of obstructing progress and calling on other nations to forge a new deal without Washington.
With less than 24 hours to today's conference deadline, the newly-awarded Nobel laureate last night made an impassioned plea to conference delegates to leave an "open space" in a new climate change deal, and to hope it will be filled later by President George Bush's successor.
"I am going to speak an inconvenient truth: my own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali," Mr Gore said, to rapturous applause.
Declaring that "change is possible" for the US, Mr Gore cited Australia's quick move to ratify the Kyoto Protocol soon after Kevin Rudd's election as Prime Minister last month.
A spokeswoman for major environment groups at the conference, Jennifer Morgan, said: "There is a wrecking crew here in Bali led by the Bush Administration and its minions.
"Those minions continue to be the governments of Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia and others, with, unfortunately, Australia shadowing that group of minions."
Washington says the guidelines in the Bali draft would have prejudged the outcome of the conference, and that the 25% to 40% range of proposed cuts before 20202 is based on relatively little scientific study.
Wow! That's some no holds barred language they're using at that conference.
Marian Wilkinson and Mark Forbes
December 14, 2007
FORMER US vice-president Al Gore has made a dramatic 11th-hour intervention at the faltering climate change talks in Bali, accusing his own country of obstructing progress and calling on other nations to forge a new deal without Washington.
With less than 24 hours to today's conference deadline, the newly-awarded Nobel laureate last night made an impassioned plea to conference delegates to leave an "open space" in a new climate change deal, and to hope it will be filled later by President George Bush's successor.
"I am going to speak an inconvenient truth: my own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali," Mr Gore said, to rapturous applause.
Declaring that "change is possible" for the US, Mr Gore cited Australia's quick move to ratify the Kyoto Protocol soon after Kevin Rudd's election as Prime Minister last month.
A spokeswoman for major environment groups at the conference, Jennifer Morgan, said: "There is a wrecking crew here in Bali led by the Bush Administration and its minions.
"Those minions continue to be the governments of Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia and others, with, unfortunately, Australia shadowing that group of minions."
Washington says the guidelines in the Bali draft would have prejudged the outcome of the conference, and that the 25% to 40% range of proposed cuts before 20202 is based on relatively little scientific study.
Wow! That's some no holds barred language they're using at that conference.