Bush faces global warming protest wave

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany, June 14 (UPI) -- A world environmental group has slammed U.S. President Bush for holding out against international cooperation to prevent global warming.

The Avaaz.org organization, which claimed to have presented the biggest global climate petition ever assembled at the recent G8 summit, said in a statement it "condemned the U.S. administration (for its) 'wrecking tactics' and failure to agree to specific, binding global goals."

"President Bush's wrecking tactics are endangering the planet and isolating the United States," said Ricken Patel, executive director of Avaaz.org. "Bush is dragging the world backwards while pretending to lead it. The global public overwhelmingly demands strong government action on climate change. The longer governments drag their feet, the more deafening the global outcry will become -- until it can't be ignored."

Avaaz.org said that more than 355,000 people from 193 countries had already supported its petition, and that the list of those who had signed it was rising by tens of thousands every day.

"On climate, Bush is alone not just in the world, but even in his own country -- the American public and U.S. Congress support bold action on climate change," said Avaaz G8 campaign director Paul Hilder. "Other big polluters like Brazil and China are moving toward serious action on climate. By 2009, we need a deal with binding targets -- voluntary agreements will never be enough to save the planet from global warming."

The group noted that in the G8 statement the European nations, Japan and Canada all agreed to implement a 50 percent or greater cut in emissions by 2050. It said the United States was "the only dissenter in the group."