The European Union's top energy official was in Washington to push European hopes for greater cooperation on global warming and joint EU-U.S. efforts for increasing energy efficiency and security of supplies.
WASHINGTON -- The European Union's top energy official was in Washington to push European hopes for greater cooperation on global warming and joint EU-U.S. efforts for increasing energy efficiency and security of supplies.
EU Energy Commissioner Adris Piebalgs said the European Union supports the Bush administration as it tries to reduce reliance on foreign oil by increasing the use of biofuels including ethanol. He said he discussed EU cooperation with U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman Monday and came away optimistic.
"I really believe cooperation between the EU and the U.S. on biofuels will be exemplary," he said.
The European Union continues to press for U.S. partnership involvement in United Nations efforts to reduce global carbon emissions. The United States has refused to endorse the 1997 Kyoto protocol on emissions.
President George W. Bush has come under pressure to rethink his rejection of mandatory caps amid growing scientific consensus that manmade emissions are contributing to global warming. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of Bush's closest allies in Europe, has made the issue a priority for her country's current turn in the rotating presidency of the EU.
Piebalgs said he also discussed with Bodman and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Monday Europe's efforts to diversify its foreign energy suppliers by building new pipelines to give European consumers greater access to fields in Central Asia.
Source: Reuters
Contact Info:
