US Against the World?

Congratulations to Iowa City Sierra Club President Mike Carberry on his new job with the Global Warming Initiative--looks like you'll have your work cut out.

From the BBC

The US appears to have rejected draft proposals by Germany for G8 members to agree tough measures in greenhouse gas emissions, leaked documents have shown.

Wide-ranging US amendments to a draft communique prepared ahead of June's G8 in Germany summit cite a "fundamental opposition" to the proposals.

Germany wants all G8 members to agree timetables and targets for major cuts.

Greenpeace, who leaked the document, said it showed UK PM Tony Blair failed to persuade the US to alter its stance.

In the document, US officials make major changes to the communique.

In comments printed in red ink, the US negotiators express disappointment that earlier concerns have not been taken on board.

The changes strike out entire sentences and significantly reduce the certainty with which the statement addresses climate change.

"The US still has serious, fundamental concerns about this draft statement," a red-inked note reads.

"The treatment of climate change runs counter to our overall position and crosses 'multiple red lines' in terms of what we simply cannot agree to," it continues.

"We have tried to 'tread lightly' but there is only so far we can go given our fundamental opposition to the German position."

However, in Washington, senior US lawmakers have written to President Bush expressing their dismay at the administration's position, the AFP news agency reports.