U.S. is Reducing Greenhouse Gases without Kyoto, White House Adviser Says

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The United States is making progress toward lowering greenhouse gas emissions and curbing global warming, despite not signing the Kyoto accord, a senior White House adviser on the environment told an environment conference Wednesday.

LONDON — The United States is making progress toward lowering greenhouse gas emissions and curbing global warming, despite not signing the Kyoto accord, a senior White House adviser on the environment told an environment conference Wednesday.


James Connaughton, chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, addressed several hundred business representatives at a two-day annual conference in central London hosted by the Environment Agency, the environmental regulatory body for England and Wales.


"While we are not able to produce the outcome Kyoto would require of us, we are able to make substantial progress under the banner of the treaties in which we are participating," Connaughton said.


"We now have a foundation of treaties, of agreements, such as the Johannesburg Plan of Action and the G-8 Plan of Action. We have the Asia Pacific Partnership. We have this rich foundation of government-to-government policy commitments in various formulations. The time now is for implementation," he said.


Connaughton's sparring partner at the event, British professor and economist Michael Grubb, agreed that "implementation is the key issue."


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"Technology is crucial. ... I think technology is the answer. I fully agree with the U.S. on that," Grubb said. The only way to get companies to invest in that technology is with incentives, he said _ either through laws requiring compliance with emission standards or rewards for doing so voluntarily.


Connaughton said the United States is implementing new pollution laws and tax breaks to encourage improved air quality.


"We have new tax law changes that allow faster write-offs for new capital purchases," he said. "So instead of paying the repairman to fix the old, clunky, inefficient piece of equipment, these new tax law changes are creating a renaissance in new capital goods orders."


The result is billions of dollars in purchases of more environmentally friendly equipment, he said.


"Do not underestimate the power of giving people incentives to buy something new rather than repair something old," he said.


Source: Associated Press


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