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U.S. Hinders Climate Talks, Gore Says

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By CHRIS BRUMMITT, The Associated Press

Published: December 14, 2007

BALI, Indonesia - Nobel laureate Al Gore said Thursday that the United States is "principally responsible" for blocking progress at the U.N. climate conference, and European nations threatened to boycott U.S.-led climate talks next month unless Washington compromises on emissions reductions.

The former vice president urged delegates to take urgent action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, and told them that the next U.S. president will likely be more supportive of international caps on polluting gases.

"My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali," said Gore, who flew to Bali from Oslo, Norway, where he received the Nobel Peace Prize for helping alert the world to the danger of climate change.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said Gore was wrong in blaming the United States for holding up progress. "I think he is incorrect," she said.

Kristen Hellmer, a member of the U.S. delegation in Bali, said: "The U.S. is being open and working very constructively with the other countries that are here. We are rolling our sleeves up and really working to come up with a global post-2012 framework."

Earlier, the United Nations warned that time was running out for an agreement to launch negotiations for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012 and the talks were in danger of "falling to pieces."

The United States, Japan and several other governments are refusing to accept language in a draft document suggesting that industrialized nations consider cutting emissions by 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020, saying specific targets would limit the scope of future talks.

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