Europeans applaud new Bush stance on environment

Source:“Business leaders welcome Bush climate change nod” - Cnn.com


Business leaders from Europe and elsewhere welcomed President Bush’s acknowledgement, this week at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, that emissions and global climate change is a “serious challenge”; Bush also called for new standards to deal with emissions.

Instead of supporting mandatory caps on emissions, Bush lends support to new energy-producing technologies that will reduce the amount of fossil fuel consumption in the US. While world leaders also support alternative technologies, they are asking Bush to also enforce stricter emissions standards on US companies.

Meanwhile, European figures, such as a former German environment minister, believe that Bush’s new attitude will help foster a “transatlantic cooperation in the fight against climate change.” However, others believe that Bush’s change is not enough, criticizing that he offers only technical suggestions and no real policy changes.

Question:
- Will EU leaders manage to influence a real policy change in US emissions standards? Would such a change be crucial to the global fight against climate