C02 EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS: Global pact calls for nonbinding cuts

Last week 143 nations, including the U.S., reached a compromise on a treaty aimed at controlling global warming by reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The accord is to be signed at the United Nations Conference on Environment & Development (UNCED), popularly called the Earth Summit, to be held in Rio de Janeiro next month. The compromise is the result of six negotiating sessions during the past year and a half. It allows President Bush to go to the Earth Summit without being accused of destroying the chances of adopting a climate treaty. He announced May 12 that he would attend the meeting for a "short time." The final text of the treaty is deliberately vague. All major industrialized countries except the U.S. sought an agreement to stabilize carbon dioxide emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000. The U.S., however, insisted on avoiding specific targets and timetables for reducing greenhouse gas ...