President George W. Bush on Wednesday proposed a target of stopping growth in US greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, delivering his opening shot in negotiations with the US Congress and international community about climate change. The target marked the most specific goal yet set by the Bush administration for curbing carbon emissions, but fell short of more aggressive targets set by European countries and proposed by Democrats in Congress.

Reusable material being dumped into landfill is the real problem. IF YOU'RE left holding a handful of plastic bags after you do the big supermarket shop and you don't feel guilty, then you might be as impervious as the plastic bag itself is to breaking down in the environment. Images of distressed penguins and sea turtles wrapped in plastic bags should come to mind. In political terms, ridding supermarkets of the bags was a "no brainer", even though the question of who pays hasn't been easy going for federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett.

Earth Day is a week away, so brace yourself for cuddly, hug-the-planet blubbering from the presidential candidates. John McCain will tell you we must be the "caretakers of creation." Hillary Clinton will talk of recycling and efficient light bulbs. Barack Obama will surely tell us we "cannot afford more of the same timid politics when the future of our planet is at stake."

Bush To Announce Intermediate Goal For CO2 Emissions US: April 16, 2008 WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush plans to announce on Wednesday an intermediate goal to limit greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, but will not make specific proposals, the White House said on Tuesday. Bush will "articulate a realistic intermediate goal for reducing greenhouse gasses" and press for incentives for technology aimed at cutting emissions, said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

White House Weighing New US CO2 Proposal - Sources US: April 15, 2008 WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is debating whether to embrace a mandatory system to control US greenhouse gas emissions and could make an announcement as early as this week, industry sources said on Monday. It was unclear what form the new plan could take, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the fluid nature of the deliberations.

US Congress Should Take Lead On CO2 Rules - Lawmakers US: April 11, 2008 WASHINGTON - The task of writing first-ever rules to limit greenhouse gas emissions should fall to the Congress and not federal regulators, key lawmakers in the House said Thursday. Pressured by a landmark 2007 ruling by the Supreme Court that it must reconsider its refusal to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions from new cars and trucks, the Environmental Protection Agency last month started a long process of writing regulations.

Shipping CO2 Controls To Raise Transport Costs UK: April 11, 2008 LONDON - The world's shipping industry plans to limit its growing carbon dioxide emissions by taxing marine fuels and signing up to a new climate change deal in moves likely to raise transport costs for raw materials. Experts say the measures, aired at an International Maritime Organisation (IMO) meeting on fuel pollutants in London last week and about a year away from being formally agreed, will be painful but are necessary in the fight against climate change.

Ford Wins Over Critics With Greenhouse Pledge US: April 10, 2008 DETROIT - A group of activist investors including the state of Connecticut Wednesday dropped a campaign targeting Ford Motor Co after the No. 2 US automaker detailed plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions over the next 12 years. Ford's action made it the first US automaker to spell out how it intends to cut by 30 percent the greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles it sells by 2020, according to the activist investor groups that pushed it to make the pledge.

Sir, Nigel Lawson's promotion of his new book ("Stop this foolish overreaction to climate change", April 6) does his readers a disservice by ignoring the Stern review and the new literature on the risks of climate change. The review estimated the costs at between 5 and 20 per cent of world gross domestic product, depending on an assessment of the risks and treatment of the discount rate.