The representatives warned that climate change is already happening and that it is a serious threat to the future of mankind. The Europeans also underlined that one country cannot declare dead an international process that deals with a major global issue. The EU still hopes to have the United States involved in the Kyoto Protocol as soon as possible - but is prepared to go forward without the U.S. if necessary. The European team expressed some optimism that Whitman and other U.S. representatives did not challenge the scientific evidence of global warming. We were happy to note that nobody on the U.S. side questioned the science about climate change.
All countries have a responsibility to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Global climate change is a serious issue that this administration is committed to addressing by working closely with our friends and allies. Whitman's remarks, which supported the Bush administration's official position on the Kyoto treaty, run counter to her earlier statements supporting mandatory controls of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, and a letter she sent to President Bush urging that he support the Kyoto Protocol. While environmental groups once looked on Whitman's appointment to the EPA with cautious optimism, many now fear that she will have little or no influence over the Bush administration's environmental policies. First the Bush administration destroyed her credibility on climate change. Please resign your post and join us in putting a stop to this all out assault on the public health and environment of the United States and, indeed, the rest of the world.