Bush Rules Out Climate Deal
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5 July 2005 -- U.S. President George W. Bush has ruled out any new deal on climate change ahead of a Group of Eight summit in Scotland where police and protesters clashed today.
Speaking to a British television channel ahead of the summit's start tomorrow, Bush said climate change is a serious problem but that Washington will not sign an agreement such as the Kyoto treaty because it hurts the U.S. economy.
"I believe [climate change] is a significant long-term issue that we [have to] deal with. And that's why my government is dealing with it," Bush said.
Meanwhile, Scottish police and protesters clashed today in Edinburgh, near the site of the G-8 summit in Gleneagles. Some 20 police officers and protesters were reported to have been injured.
Among other things, the protesters want the summit to produce a statement on climate change that cites the Kyoto
treaty on cutting greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide.
All the other G-8 powers -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia -- have ratified the
legally binding treaty.
(dpa/AP)