CNN Online - Associated Press

Climate rankings: U.S. near bottom!

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Sweden, Britain and Denmark are doing the most to protect against climate change, but their efforts are not nearly enough, according to a report released Monday by environmental groups.

The United States -- the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases -- ranked at 53, with only China, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia doing worse.

"We don't have any winners, we only have countries that are better compared to others," said Matthias Duwe of the Climate Action Network-Europe, which released the data at the U.N. climate conference. "We don't have big shining stars."

The index ranks 56 countries that were part of a 1992 climate treaty or that contribute at least 1 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. The countries make up 90 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.

The calculations by the environmental group Germanwatch took into account emissions levels, emissions trends and climate policy.

About one-quarter of the energy consumed in Sweden in 2003 came from renewable sources -- more than four times as much as the European Union average of 6 percent. In Stockholm, one-quarter of city buses run on ethanol or biogas.

The country with the worst ranking was Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter. Duwe said the kingdom's policies generally block attempts to reduce greenhouse gases.

"If you try to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, you will also reduce oil consumption," Duwe said. "So Saudi oil will be in less demand."

Christoph Bals, political director of Germanwatch, said policy had an enormous effect on the rankings. The U.S. could move up 30 spots if its policies were akin to Britain's, he said.

The United States and Australia are the only major industrialized countries to reject the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which calls for mandatory cuts in greenhouse gases.

The Bush administration's policy on climate change focuses on voluntary emissions cuts by industry and long-term development of clean-energy technology. In rejecting the Kyoto Protocol's mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions, President Bush said they would hamstring the U.S. economy and complained that poorer countries also should have been covered.

"The president has made dealing with climate change a priority for this administration (and) will continue to," White House spokesman Tony Snow said Monday.

When asked about the rankings, Kristen A. Hellmer, a spokeswoman for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said there were many different ways to measure environmental progress.

"The U.S. has seen one of the smallest increases -- 1.3 percent from 2000-2004 -- in greenhouse gas emissions (of) any major world economy," she said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.

"This compares favorably with Europe's more than 2 percent increase during the same time period," she added. "At the same time, the U.S. successfully met the needs of a growing population and grew the economy nearly 10 percent, and the U.S. is exceeding the president's goal to reduce greenhouse gas intensity 18 percent by 2012."

Climate Action Network is a group of more than 300 non-governmental organizations working to stem climate change. Germanwatch is a non-profit group that focuses on issues such as trade and environment.

Scientists blame the past century's 1-degree rise in average global temperatures at least in part on the accumulation of carbon dioxide, methane and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere -- byproducts of power plants, automobiles and other fossil fuel-burning sources.

Some climate conference participants said Democratic victories in U.S. midterm elections were a good sign for environmental issues.

"The U.S. elections are clearly good news for strong U.S. action on global warming," said Jeremy Symons of the National Wildlife Federation. He said new leadership will "break the conspiracy of silence and denial" on environmental issues
- Edited by John on 29.11.2006, 18:23 -

sorry jan - but i guess the american government still believes that climat change won't hit the states because it respects borders and further more i guess that "joe average"
[color=red]- jan you are explicitely excluded from that group of citizens!!!-
thinks that they are entitled by the us constitution to have a huge swimmingpool and monster aircons and also driving a 25l-fuel consumption car! america is responsible for 25 % of the world's pollution but only has got a fraction of the world's population!
i guess the americans themselves have to make their government change that tune!
outsiders are just ignored!

pippa[/color]

Pippa:

None of our governments, past or present, listens to us anyway :-O

We all like our creature comforts too much. Each and every one of us is at fault to some degree. I have to admit once the temperature goes much over 85 my air conditioner goes on full blast.

However, one of the things they did away with some years ago and which I miss terribly is being able to smell burning leaves in the fall. Oh how I wish I could smell it again! Now all the leaves are carted off to a dump which itself pollutes! GRR

It surely helps if everyone is more considerate with electricity like air-conditions and cars, but the main polluters are not the people but the heavy industry.

If I am correctly informed, there is a change in attitude in the people when it comes to cars. This reputation is held up in Germany very much because of the thousands of Americans still living there which are supplied with free vouchers for petrol by the American Government/Army.

Burning leaves don't make a difference at all. This is a measure to reduce smog not carbon dioxide because even when rotting away it will produce the same amount. Plus, it is carbon dioxide neutral as the plants absorb the same amount as they give off when decaying. (The same applies to fire-wood by the way).

It is the production of steel, plastic, gasoline etc. which are the main products needed for production that produce the most carbon dioxide.

Hence, the people need to put pressure on the government which in return needs to accept the Kyoto Protocol and put pressure on the industry. But then again, politicians are marionettes of the industry like anywhere else in the world, so nothing will change.

To me, the only solution left is to boycot the biggest polluters. Websites like Greenpeace usually provide details to who they are and which alternatives exist to choose from.