Dems: Bush Undermining Bali Climate Change Talks

The Bush administration is undermining climate-change negotiations at a United Nations conference in Bali, Indonesia, Democrats charged Wednesday. And Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), who attended the summit, said he’s sending a letter to the White House “calling on the administration to change what they’re currently engaged in in Bali.”

It has more than 40 congressional signatories, including Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said that the administration has 57 representatives at the conference, but that “none of them have come to the conclusion that CO2 emissions are a problem.”

Kerry said that despite the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s recent passage of climate legislation, the structure of international negotiations is working against the legislative branch. “They have the right to negotiate and we don’t,” he said.