At Davos, Blair pushes U.S. for climate-change action
Addressing the annual World Economic Forum powwow in Davos, Switzerland, yesterday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair had what observers called unusually sharp words for the Bush administration, saying the U.S. should join the global battle against climate change if it seeks global cooperation in its battle against terrorism. “If America wants the rest of the world to be part of the agenda it has set,” said Blair, “it must be part of their agenda too.” Blair intends to focus his 2005 presidency of the G8 group of industrialized nations on climate change and poverty in Africa, and his address at Davos signaled his intent to pressure the U.S. to hop on board. Former U.K. government official and Blair confidant Stephen Byers said that while the climate-change door was “locked” in Bush’s first term, it is now merely “unlocked — but closed.” We’ll take it.
