The governors at the conference, held in Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, pushed through stricter regulations for the fight with climate change in spite of the federal government's stance. The governors agreed they would cooperate with the presidential candidates on the preparation of the climate policy of the next U.S.
administration, said Bursik, head of the junior ruling Green Party (SZ). The governors of the states, where over a half of the U.S. population lives, are "a Czech bill on environmental damage fails in lower house ...
Tension in Czech government due to presidential election ... strong political representation manifesting a joint political will to changes and to the formulation of a clear U.S. policy in the field of climate change," Bursik said. Most Americans, via the governors, want concrete steps to be taken to lower greenhouse gas emissions and to combat climate change. They also demand that the United States join the global agreement on the fight against climate change. Bursik pointed out that the governors' conference was significant among others because during the Czech EU presidency in the first half of 2009 a new EU climate-energy strategy would be negotiated. Europe views the activities of particular U.S. states in the fight against climate change very positively and as a path how to change the U.S. federal policy in a long term, Bursik said. The coordinated approach of the governors will undoubtedly influence a new president and his/her administration, Bursik added. All three candidates for U.S. president, Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain, have clearly indicated they would fundamentally change the current U.S. politics. "It will not be America in isolation..., but the United States will gradually take the initiative and, along with the EU, will become a leader in the climate change policy," Bursik said. Apart from Bursik, the U.S. governors' conference was attended by the prime ministers of two Canadian provinces and Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
(Ceske Noviny)
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