Quiz: If you were to pick the least qualified person, the one with the worst reputation from the Bush administration to comment on Global Warming, whom would you choose? If you chose recess appointment as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John R. Bolton, you're thinking like a Bushie, or at least their official public relations network, FOX News. When asked about mandatory limits on climate change, Bolton had this to say:
Well, it's not unusual for Vice President Gore to be wrong, either, as he is in this case. Of the G8 industrialized democracies, four -- the United States, Japan, Canada, and Russia --share our view...If you look at the developing countries, Brazil, India, and China all oppose these targets as well. So, the notion that this is the fault of the U.S. is wrong.
If anybody's isolated here, I think it's the Europeans and Al Gore...
Bolton is living in a fantasyland, as are most Bushites. The United States-- the only major industrialized country to reject the Kyoto treaty-- signed instead a compromise deal today which didn't mention any figures but set 2009 as a deadline for a new treaty, after much heel-dragging from the U.S. contingent. Senior U.S. negotiator Paula Dobriansky was booed loudly while a US environmental activist representing Papua New Guinea said to rousing cheers: "If you're not willing to lead, please get out of the way." In the end, after much grumbling, they did just that.