US Dashes Hopes for Climate Deal

It is wishful thinking to believe that the United States will "trash its economy" in order to take action on climate change and there is no chance of the Bush administration reconsidering its position on the Kyoto protocol, America's senior climate negotiator has said.

Harlan Watson told a briefing in London yesterday that the White House would not return to negotiations for the next review of greenhouse gas reductions, due under the Kyoto protocol in 2005: "We want no part of that ... The next time we take stock on climate change has been set by the president at 2012."

His remarks about the potential loss of millions of American jobs and the uncertainties in the science of climate change echoed points made in the last 10 years by the oil and coal lobbies.

"The US has a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure, with coal fired stations with a 40- to 50-year lifespan," he said. "You cannot come in with a wrecking ball and turn that around and replace it with new technologies. We just do not have the capital to do that. You do not want to throw everything over at once and trash your economy."

He denied that the oil, coal and steel lobbies were alone in resisting action and said concern had also been expressed by trade unions, farmers and consumer groups worried about food and fuel prices.

Dr Watson, a physicist by training, also made it clear that the US administration was in favour of a new generation of nuclear reactors, which he said was a marked change in energy policy.

He defended the US decision to support the ousting of the climate scientist Robert Watson as chairman of the UN independent panel on climate change (IPCC) in favour of the Indian engineer and economist Rajendra Pachauri, saying it was time for a developing country to be at the forefront of the organisation.

He added: "We need ideas on how to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions at little cost, we need workable solutions, hence the need for engineering and economics rather than more climate science."

The US is talking to developing countries about the need for economic growth using better technologies, Dr Watson said, and these countries did not want to go "the Kyoto route" for targets for greenhouse gas reductions and timetables to achieve them.

He said that President George Bush had not yet decided whether he would attend the world summit on sustainable development, known as the Rio+10 review conference, in South Africa this August.