US to lead bid by 16 “Heavy Smoker” nations to avoid UN-imposed emission targets

The US returned to its 2001 anti-Kyoto theme of “voluntary emission targets” as a conference of major polluting nations got underway in Washington DC.

President Bush, absent from the UN Summit earlier this week, sought to exert leadership as 16 “Heavy Smoker” nations looked for ways to avoid mandatory emission reduction targets when the UN conference on climate change comvenes in Bali in December.

The US is seeking voluntary mid-term targets, while the EU favors strict targets in both the mid- and long-term.

UN and EU officials attending the meeting said that the US, which produces 25 percent of greenhouse gases but has only 5 percent of the world’s population, needs to go further than voluntary targets.

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