President-elect Bush has made drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska a major part of his energy plan and is expected to try to ease present restrictions on logging in national forests. He said the signal the United States sends on environmental issues is crucial because it has the world's largest economy and its environmental impact is second to none. Two weeks of international talks in the Netherlands on how to cut pollution that is warming the planet ended in failure Nov. 25, after disputes between the United States and the EU proved insurmountable. The key issue blocking agreement was whether and to what extent countries should be allowed to count the carbon dioxide absorbed by forests and farmlands toward their emissions reduction targets. Greenhouse gas emissions mostly come from burning fossil fuels for factories, power plants and cars.
Carbon dioxide is a major component of the emissions.