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03/13/2001 - Updated 09:55 PM ET Bush reverses stance on gas limits

By Traci Watson, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — President Bush told Congress on Tuesday that he won't impose mandatory limits on power plants' emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas that has been linked to global warming.

The decision reversed a promise Bush made during the presidential campaign. In September, he released an energy policy saying that as president, he would "establish mandatory reduction targets for emissions of carbon dioxide" from power plants.

But in a letter to Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., Bush wrote, "I do not believe that the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air Act."

The letter says a cap on carbon dioxide would require more use of costly natural gas. That could raise electricity prices "at a time of rising energy prices and a serious energy shortage," the letter says.

Many scientists have tied the rise in the Earth's temperature over the past century to higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, where it traps heat.

The burning of fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, produces the gas.

The administration's decision delighted many industry groups but was a blow to environmentalists.

"They just walked away from one of the most explicit environmental promises in his campaign," said Phil Clapp of the National Environmental Trust.

Tom Kuhn of the Edison Electric Institute called the decision "balanced and reasonable

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2001-03-13-bushco2.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 14, 2001