"We're Greener Than You Think"
Serious Action on Climate Change:
"We're Greener Than You Think"
Jyllands Posten, January 28, 2007
Op-Ed by James P. Cain, U.S. Ambassador to Denmark
" America is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will make us less dependent on oil and help us confront the serious challenge of global climate change." Those aren't the words of U.S. former vice president Al Gore, who recently visited Copenhagen to promote his film on climate change. They are the words of President Bush. As he outlined in his State of the Union speech January 23, the President's goal is to reduce gasoline usage by 20 percent in the United States over the next ten years. Achieving this goal will mean a complete halt to the growth of emissions from vehicles—by far the greatest cause of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. These policies and many others have made America a global leader in recognizing and confronting climate change.
The specter of climate change has caught the international public imagination in a way that few other problems have. And the U.S. is often reflexively cast in the role of the villain. Mention the words "Kyoto Protocol" or "greenhouse gasses," and some train their sights on the United States. Facts and figures do little to change this preconceived idea. Sometimes even our friends and partners fail to recognize the merits and accomplishments of an American policy of working directly with private citizens -- farmers, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and scientists -- through mandatory and voluntary measures to stop the growth of carbon dioxide emissions.
The American approach is working. As the President noted Tuesday, the U.S. is in the 41 st month of uninterrupted job growth. The American economy is on the move, and bringing the rest of the world with it. But even with our growth, our emissions grew only 1.7 percent from 2000 to 2004, compared to 5 percent growth in emissions during the same period for the European Union. The US accomplished this during a period of high population growth – up 11.5 million – approximately equivalent to the combined populations of Denmark and Finland. This occurred during a period of high, real GDP growth – 940 million or 9.6 percent, which is more than the combined 2004 GDP of Spain and Sweden.
Look at the facts: the U.S. has set a target of cutting our greenhouse gas intensity by no less than 18 percent through the year 2012. This goal represents 500 million tons of CO2, just about the same amount as the EU will manage if it meets its Kyoto targets during this period. We have spent nearly $29 billion in climate-related science, technology, international assistance, and incentive programs. These results don't support the assumption that when it comes to climate change, the U.S. doesn't get it or doesn't care. We do care, and we are taking action.
Denmark and the U.S. are natural partners in the quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and developing alternative energy. Danish entrepreneurs and the Danish government are leading the way in developing wind power and other alternative technologies, and American energy consumers are buying in big. As President Bush and Prime Minister Rasmussen discussed last summer during their meeting at Camp David, climate change is one of the most serious challenges of our age, and we are right to be deeply concerned. Once people in Denmark and the rest of Europe look beyond stereotypes and realize the U.S. is serious about the problem, we can find new ways to cooperate on a matter of vital urgency for our children's future.