Gore says U.S. obstructing climate issues

BALI, Indonesia, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Nobel prize winner Al Gore urged climate change delegates in Bali to push forward with a consensus statement addressing climate change despite obstacles.

The former U.S. vice president Thursday blasted the United States for "obstructing the process here in Bali," the Washington Post reported.

Gore, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change issues, said he understood how some delegates at the U.N. conference on climate change may be tempted to abandon the process to develop a successor document to the Kyoto Protocols on global warming issues, but if negotiations collapse, "the entire world could lose momentum and could lose progress."

To address the U.S. positions regarding climate change, Gore suggested delegates "negotiate around this enormous obstacle, this elephant in the room."

The Bush administration has opposed proposed language calling on industrialized countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by between 25 percent and 40 percent by 2020. Because of the opposition, several European officials said they may turn away from White House-sponsored efforts to convene regular climate talks among the world's major economies. The talks began in September and are aimed at identifying a long-term emissions reduction goal for the world.