Schwarzenegger and Bush in disalignment

LOS ANGELES – Criticised by fellow G8 members for not signing the Kyoto Protocol, President George W Bush is also coming under fire from an ally: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Seven of the Group of Eight industrialised nations signed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol establishing targets for reducing greenhouse gasses, but Bush on Monday told British television the accord was a “lousy deal for the American economy”. Bush is used to the controversy his environmental policies elicit abroad, but in recent months a new, unexpected adversary has appeared closer to home: Republican Schwarzenegger, who was elected in October 2003 as Governor of California, the most populous of the 50 US states.In a commentary in the British Independent on Sunday, the former body builder and Hollywood actor made an urgent call to fight global warming.”Global warming threatens California’s water supply, public health, agriculture, coastlines and forests …We have no choice but to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” he wrote.Flying in the face of Bush’s unilateralism, the ‘Terminator’ used the June 1 UN World Environment Day conference in San Francisco to sign an executive order imposing bold new greenhouse gas targets emissions for his state.- Nampa-AFPBush is used to the controversy his environmental policies elicit abroad, but in recent months a new, unexpected adversary has appeared closer to home: Republican Schwarzenegger, who was elected in October 2003 as Governor of California, the most populous of the 50 US states.In a commentary in the British Independent on Sunday, the former body builder and Hollywood actor made an urgent call to fight global warming.”Global warming threatens California’s water supply, public health, agriculture, coastlines and forests …We have no choice but to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” he wrote.Flying in the face of Bush’s unilateralism, the ‘Terminator’ used the June 1 UN World Environment Day conference in San Francisco to sign an executive order imposing bold new greenhouse gas targets emissions for his state.- Nampa-AFP