Blair bypasses Bush, appeals to Texas for global-warming aid
British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s quixotic mission to convert the Bush administration from staunch believers in “more research” on global warming to actual movers on the issue has thus far proved unsuccessful. So Blair is diversifying his strategy. One tactic is to bypass the decision maker in chief and play ball with lower-level operatives, among them the oil big-wigs in President Bush’s home state. (British representatives are also chatting up members of Congress, state officials, and enviro groups.) Blair’s hope is that there will be a trickle-down effect if U.S. energy companies — starting with ChevronTexaco Corp. and Apache Corp. — come around to the notion that developing cleaner technologies and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions is in their best economic interest. Says Judith Slater, the British consul general in Houston, “We can’t expect them to do this for the greater good of mankind.” Sigh.
