President George W. Bush's plans to decrease pollution from United States factories have been rejected internationally and sparked a political battle at home over their approval.
The US President called for voluntary reductions in emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. He hopes that, by 2012, the US will reduce by 18 per cent the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the production of every US$1 million (HK$7.8 million) of gross domestic product. But if GDP rises as expected, gas emissions will in fact rise over the 10-year period.
Mr Bush proposes to achieve the cuts through conservation, finding alternative energy sources and tax incentives to companies.
Separately, he plans stricter standards for power plant emissions to reduce production of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury by 66 per cent by 2018. The clampdown would be in the form of mandatory ceilings on power industry output of the three gases, leaving companies to earn and trade credits for emissions reductions.
Environmentalists and countries set to implement a ground-breaking UN accord on climate control have called Mr Bush's measures ineffective. They questioned whether he was sincere in attempts to cut pollution levels or was pandering to big business.
The US is the only developed nation that definitely will not implement the Kyoto Protocol, which requires signatories to cut the emissions of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2010.