Hundreds Protest Bush for going the "Wrong Way" on Climate Change

Activists Decry President's Climate Speech as Wildly Inadequate to Addressing Crisis of Global Warming

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Hundreds of concerned citizens rejected Bush’s voluntary approach to global warming as woefully insufficient at a rally outside the State Department Friday. Decrying President George Bush’s support of voluntary measures to curb global warming, activists held up “Wrong Way” road signs across the street from the building where President Bush spent the morning addressing leaders of the 17 countries that produce the most global warming gases.

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PICTURES
View pictures from the protest on Thursday, where 49 were arrested for peacefully blocking the entrance to the State Department, and from the rally on Friday -- view photo gallery here.

MEDIA HITS
View media hits from the Thursday and Friday's protests -- view press hits here

"President Bush’s speech today clearly demonstrated that he is determined to undermine realinternational efforts now underway to achieve mandatory greenhouse gas cuts under the Kyoto process,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the U.S. Climate Emergency Council and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Voluntary measures and future technology fixes aren’t going to cut it. At a time of runaway climate change, Americans, and the rest of the world, are demanding action now!"

President Bush invited 17 "major emitter" countries, including China and India, to a climate summit that took place yesterday and today. Bush spent the morning addressing delegates to the summit, focusing on encouraging industries to cut global warming emissions voluntarily as well as providing subsidies for research into "clean coal" technology and nuclear energy. The summit is the first in a series of U.S.-led gatherings expected to focus on those themes.

"We cannot wait any longer for meaningful action on the climate crisis." said Ted Glick, coordinator of the U.S. Climate Emergency Council and who is on the 24th day of a "Climate Emergency Fast." "For Bush to try to lead the world at such an urgent time in this completely wrong direction is beyond deplorable. It's analogous to Herbert Hoover saying all is well as the Great Depression hits. To talk about voluntary measures as we see huge climate impacts from global warming all over the Earth is madness."

Protesters today demanded that the leaders of the 16 major emitters support mandatory, rather than voluntary, limits on greenhouse gas emissions that would hold warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. They insisted that the summit attendees support a United Nations process that includes all nations and that they push for a strong post-Kyoto treaty. They also demanded that they acknowledge that the major emitters causing global warming must help fund adaptation measures for the developing world.

Protesters had specific demands of the U.S. government as well. They urged President Bush to show leadership at home by cutting U.S. emissions at least 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, regardless of what other countries do.

The rally was organized by Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Energy Action, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Oil Change International, SustainUS, the U.S. Climate Action Network, and the U.S. Climate Emergency Council.

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