Bob Tippee
Editor

The climate-change proposal by US President George W. Bush deserves credit for damage control.

On Apr. 16, Bush announced a goal of halting the growth greenhouse-gas emissions by 2025.

The plan emphasizes technology, appeals for parallel efforts in all economically growing countries, asserts the need for accelerated cuts in power-plant emissions, and relies on incentives, including for nuclear energy.

Because it spurns mandates, the proposal drew criticism from advocates of aggressive climate-change response.

And because it presumes the need for response, the plan alarmed observers who remain doubtful about the ability of politics to influence climate and worried about the economic effects.

Bush disclosed at least part of his motivation by citing "a growing problem here at home": court rulings authorizing regulators to limit greenhouse-gas emissions under air-quality and other environmental laws.

"If these laws are stretched beyond their original intent," he said, "they could override the [energy] programs Congress just adopted and force the government to regulate more than just power-plant emissions."