US warns on economy as Africa seeks climate aid Agence France-Presse . Bangkok The United States warned Thursday a worsening economy limited what it could give to help poor nations fight global warming, as African activists appealed for major polluters to commit one per cent of GDP. More than 160 countries are meeting in Bangkok in a bid to lay the groundwork for a deal on combatting climate change after the landmark Kyoto Protocol's commitments to slash greenhouse gas emissions run out in 2012.

US warns on economy as Africa seeks climate aid Agence France-Presse . Bangkok The United States warned Thursday a worsening economy limited what it could give to help poor nations fight global warming, as African activists appealed for major polluters to commit one per cent of GDP. More than 160 countries are meeting in Bangkok in a bid to lay the groundwork for a deal on combatting climate change after the landmark Kyoto Protocol's commitments to slash greenhouse gas emissions run out in 2012.

THE Eddington report contains the right approach to reducing greenhouse emissions from transport, but the assumptions it makes deserve to be challenged. They are, in some cases, far too timid, in other cases over-optimistic and, in general, heavily biased towards business as usual. Eddington's approach, which is correct, is to propose a bundle of changes that could lead to a reduction in emissions from transport. These changes are: reducing travel demand, boosting public transport share, improving vehicle technologies, and increasing vehicle occupancy.

DEMOCRAT presidential candidate Barack Obama has said he would consider putting former US vice-president Al Gore in a cabinet-level position or higher if he wins the presidency. His offer came as polls showed him closing the gap with rival Hillary Clinton in the next primary state to vote, Pennsylvania. A woman at a town hall meeting in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, asked Senator Obama whether he would consider asking Mr Gore, now a climate change campaigner, to join his cabinet

NEW York drivers are fuming after Mayor Michael Bloomberg edged closer to securing a congestion tax in the city. It now rests with state politicians to endorse the plan by Monday. If it passes, the Bloomberg congestion tax would introduce a daily charge of $US8 ($A9) for drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street. Mr Bloomberg has pushed the plan for more than a year. He won his way after the Democrat-dominated New York City Council this week voted strongly in favour of the measure, pioneered in London.

A spring gale is lashing orthodox climate policy. This week, an article was published in Nature that should shake the certainty of anyone who assumes that the Kyoto protocol approach is the sensible way to go, and that signing the accord is a responsible step for the United States to take.

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Deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said the national action plan on climate change would focus more on adaptation to climate change than on mitigation. Speaking at the release of

18 US States Sue EPA Over Greenhouse Gas Pollution US: April 4, 2008 WASHINGTON - Eighteen states sued the US Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday for failing to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and trucks, one year after the Supreme Court ruled that the agency had the power to do so. The suit seeks EPA's response to the high court's April 2, 2007, ruling, a landmark decision seen as a sharp defeat for the Bush administration's policy on climate change.

Group Seeks E.P.A. Rules on Emissions From Vehicles By FELICITY BARRINGER Published: April 3, 2008 In a new push to get the federal government to act on global warming, a coalition of states, cities and environmental groups took its fight to federal court on Wednesday. The coalition, led by Massachusetts, is seeking to force the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate emissions of heat-trapping gases from new cars and trucks or show that such regulation is unnecessary.