Rick Allen: “I have returned from Johannesburg, South Africa where I attended the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The summit…”

“I have returned from Johannesburg, South Africa where I attended the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The summit produced some achievements such as the agreement to improve water and sewer sanitation in the Third World. The U.S. delegation also successfully promoted public-private partnerships to solve some environmental problems. But when it came to climate change, it had no interest in partnerships. The Bush administration stands alone in refusing to deal with global warming. As a former executive, President Bush knows that no business plan will succeed without targets and timetables, yet the President's negotiators succeeded in blocking targets and timetables to reduce the use of oil and gas and increase the use of renewable energy. The goal of the summit was to implement a vision for a healthier and more sustainable future, but it fell short because the Bush administration has no vision beyond short-term gains for the oil and gas industry. The U.S. risks falling behind our competitors who will develop innovative and profitable clean and efficient technologies. For the sake of our economy and our health, I urge the administration to abandon its idealogical resistance to real action against climate change.”