From U.S. Rejects EU Targets On Climate Change:

The United States rejects the European Union’s all-encompassing target on reduction of carbon emissions, President Bush’s environmental adviser said Tuesday.

James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the United States is not against setting goals but prefers to focus them on specific sectors, such as reducing dependence on gasoline and cleaner coal. “The U.S. has different sets of targets,” he said.

…

Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel has been more blunt, voicing regret after he met [US Speaker of the House Nancy] Pelosi on Monday at the difficulty of achieving “concrete results” with the Bush administration.

“I think that what we could achieve is at least a mandate for negotiations — a clear mandate — for the climate conference” later this year in Bali, Indonesia, which is set to consider future action against global warming, Gabriel told ARD television.

“The United States is rejecting that as well, so far,” he said, but “if we could achieve that, then I think Heiligendamm would have achieved a breakthrough.”

Everyone surprised to hear that the current administration is so willing to block serious action on the global warming front will now sprout wings and fly to the moon.

And anyone who thinks this shameful situation will change before January 2009 (when the next president takes office, for those not up on their US civics classes), or that squandering the eight years that this administration was in power wasn’t a huge, lost opportunity, will kindly join the first group in their lunar flight.

Honestly, I grow more cynical every day, but it’s still hard to keep up, as Lily Tomlin once said.