LONDON - International environmental groups slammed energy plans unveiled by United States President George W. Bush as disastrous, saying they would distance the US from the rest of the world.
Bush laid out a plan of attack yesterday against "the most serious energy shortage" since the 1970s, calling for heavierreliance on oil, coal and nuclear power, and $US10 billion ($23.96 billion) in tax credits for conservation measures.
Greenpeace described the conservation measures as "window dressing" and fellow campaigners Friends of the Earth were particularly scathing about the plans for increasing nuclear power and opening an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil and gas exploration. "Today's plan threatening a new generation of nuclear power stations, destruction of the Alaskan wilderness and other environmentally disastrous proposals will distance the US even further from the main strain of environmental concern across the rest of the planet," said Charles Secrett, executive director of Friends of the Earth in Britain.
The report on national energy policy was developed by a task force led by Vice-President Dick Cheney. As Bush outlined the policy in Minnesota, hundreds of activists protested outside.
In the face of rolling power blackouts across the state of California and increasing shortages, Bush said the plan was an answer to a call for action. "If we fail to act, we could face a darker future, a future that is unfortunately being previewed in rising prices at the gas pump and rolling blackouts in California."
Initial international reaction to the US plans from most Governments was quiet, but Jan Pronk, head of the United Nations forum on climate change, dubbed it a "disastrous development" for international efforts to slow output of greenhouse gases. He said the Bush plan would "undoubtedly" lead to increased output of carbon dioxide, although he still awaited proposals from the world's biggest polluter on how to cut emissions.
