In India, U.K., and U.S., climate change is cause for conflict
Climate challenges erupted all over the globe this week. In India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a group of 5,000 scientists that the developing world “cannot afford to ape the West in terms of its environmentally wasteful lifestyle,” adding that India must invest in alternative energy and research how climate change affects monsoons. In the U.K., British Environment Minister Ian Pearson and Michael O’Leary, CEO of budget carrier Ryanair, sparred over an E.U. plan to curb airline emissions, with Pearson calling the company “the irresponsible face of capitalism” and saying O’Leary’s opposition to the plan was “completely off the wall.” O’Leary countered that Pearson was “silly.” Ooh, Brit-fight! In D.C., President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met to discuss several issues, including the Kyoto Protocol. “I believe there is a chance now to put behind us the old stale debates of the past,” Bush said. He concluded their press conference by muttering, “No back rub.” No, really. He did.
