GLOBAL WARMING: The US government came under more pressure yesterday to start dealing with global warming when 25 prominent American economists, including three Nobel laureates, warned of the high cost of doing nothing.
In a statement issued at the UN climate change summit in Montreal, they called on the Bush administration to move to control greenhouse gas emissions, saying there was "now no credible scientific doubt" that they were contributing to climate change.
Canadian prime minister Paul Martin also appealed to the US to "hear the global conscience" on climate change and take a more positive approach to the talks. "The developed world cannot walk away from its responsibilities," he told the summit.
Speaking for the EU, British environment secretary Margaret Beckett said it would meet and even exceed its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. "It is no less incumbent on the US and other developed countries to take part in these talks."
The economists, including Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University, a former member of the president's council of economic advisers, said unless action was taken, the price of dealing with global warming and its disruptive effects would only increase.
Calling for a market-based approach to reducing emissions, along the lines of the EU carbon trading regime, they said this would provide "clear incentives for changes in business practices and the development of new technologies" to replace fossil fuels.
The Union of Concerned Scientists, which co-ordinated the initiative, said the economists' letter - delivered yesterday to the White House and all members of the US Congress - underlined the danger that inaction "will hurt the American economy".
This runs contrary to President Bush's claim that signing up for the Kyoto Protocol would damage the US economy - a view propagated by its most profitable oil company, Exxon Mobil, which has been thanked by the White House for its input into climate policy.
Last Monday, the Washington Post highlighted links between Exxon Mobil and Harlan Watson, the chief US negotiator at the Montreal summit, saying the company had proposed to the White House in 2001 that he should be involved in climate change talks.
Yesterday, Mr Watson was stalked all day at the Palais des Congrès by an environmental group, the Expose Exxon Coalition, which is dedicated to highlighting the company's role in encouraging the US to shun the Kyoto Protocol.
In another development, the London Independent obtained a document which shows that the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute has been seeking to establish a lobby in Brussels aimed at undermining EU support for Kyoto.