
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 18, 1990                   TAG: 9004180035
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

BUSH URGES CAUTION ON POLLUTION CONTROLS/ EUROPEANS CALL FOR QUICKER ACTION

President Bush called for more research "to sort out the science" of global warming Tuesday, but ran into a storm of criticism at an international White House conference from Europeans who argued for action.

"Gaps in knowledge must not be used as an excuse for worldwide inaction," declared Klaus Topfer, the West German environmental minister.

Bush said he hoped the conference, attended by delegates from 19 nations, would prod international research and inject economic issues into the debate over the "greenhouse" effect.

The president called for resolving some of the scientific uncertainties and economic implications before making a commitment to specific pollution controls to deal with possible gradual warming of the Earth.

"Environmental policies that ignore the economic factors - the human factors - are destined to fail," he said.

Many of the European participants, especially the West Germans and the Dutch, said the conference agenda was narrowly arranged to prevent open discussions of policy aimed at dealing with global warming.

Topfer suggested the German delegation would pursue such discussions, adding, "The gravity of the situation requires immediate, determined action."

"I know there's a debate raging out there," Bush said in his welcoming remarks to the delegates, all cabinet-level ministers involved in environmental, economic and science issues. But he said he was confident that more research and examination of economic factors before action to curb "greenhouse" pollutants such as carbon dioxide "is the way to go."

Scientists, including Bush's own science advisers, generally agree that manmade pollution, especially the release of carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels, is causing heat to be trapped and will result in a warming of the globe. Many say the Earth's temperature could increase by as much as 4 degrees to 9 degrees Fahrenheit by the middle of the next century, causing coastal flooding and a shift of weather and agriculture patterns.

Environmentalists have urged immediate action by industrial countries to curb carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent and many of the European countries have called at least for a stabilization of such releases by the year 2000.

Meanwhile, U.S. environmentalists accused Bush on Tuesday of abandoning his leadership responsibilities on the global warming question by not joining the Europeans in a call for firm commitments.

"Bush is using the conference as a smoke screen to hide his inaction. He's using economics as a weapon against environmental protection," said Daniel Becker of the Sierra Club.

by CNB