Is U.S. near a tipping point on global warming?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. policy on global warming seems headed for a tipping point, with politicians, business leaders and economists joining environmentalists to call for new laws to limit greenhouse gases that spur climate change.

So far, the Bush administration has rejected these calls, but has been at pains to stress its commitment to dealing with global warming.


President George W. Bush’s fleeting mention of the problem in his State of the Union address last month was seen as significant, even as he stressed alternative fuels and new technologies — not legal limits on emissions — as solutions.

On Capitol Hill, there have been almost daily hearings on the consequences of and responses to human-induced climate warming, including an extraordinary Senate meeting where dozens of lawmakers themselves testified on the subject.

Reuters