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["Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>]

"Vvoluntary measures" 

equals 

 

"oversight *of* the industry *by* the industry" 

equals 

 

*no change* - business as usual.

 

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/ap11-24-161655.asp?reg=europe&vts=112420041651<http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/ap11-24-161655.asp?reg=europe&vts=112420041651>

 

Arctic Council shies from recommendations to deal with global warming

ASSOCIATED PRESS

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Nov. 24 - Although faced with fresh evidence of global 
warming, the United States and other members the Arctic Council on Wednesday 
failed to make any recommendations to combat a problem most scientists say is 
causing sea ice to melt and temperatures to rise. 


<>The council met to consider a new scientific report suggesting the Arctic 
is warming up much faster than the rest of the planet. 


Some delegates on the council, a respected international panel that advises 
governments on Arctic issues, seemed to blame their group's inaction on 
America's rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, which requires industrial nations 
to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The Bush administration prefers 
voluntary measures to save the environment. 


''We no sooner leave the science proper than we enter into politics,'' said 
Bryndis Kjartansdottir, speaking on behalf of the Icelandic ministry which 
chaired the one-day meeting. 


The study, compiled by 300 scientists and released earlier this month, said 
the Arctic is particularly vulnerable to warming from industrial greenhouse 
gases. One reason is that when snow and ice melt, the exposed, bare ground 
absorbs more heat. 


It projects that some animals could become extinct and people living in the 
region could be threatened by the thinning sea ice, melting glaciers and 
thawing permafrost. 
Sea ice in the Arctic has already decreased about 8 percent in 30 years, 
resulting in the loss of 386,100 square miles of sea ice, according to the 
report. 


Delegates said the findings will help inform governments about global 
warming, but declined to make any specific recommendations in a declaration 
adopted Wednesday. 


Paula Dobriansky, the U.S. under secretary of global affairs, told the 
council's closing news conference that she was happy with that decision. She 
said America's participation in the council is just one part of the Bush 
administration's $5.2 billion spent for environmental projects such as 
renewable energies. 


But anger from other delegates over the U.S. position on global warming 
seemed evident during the news conference, particularly the Bush 
Administration's 



rejection 



of the Kyoto Protocol in 2001. 


The U.N.-sponsored accord, which was negotiated in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, 
requires industrial nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases below 
1990 levels. When Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said, ''It is the 
best possible declaration that could be adopted today,'' other delegates 
exploded in laughter. 


The council is comprised of eight nations - Canada, Denmark, Finland, 
Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States - and six indigenous 
peoples of the Arctic, including the Saami Peoples of Norway and Finland and 
the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. 

 

© 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be 
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.