The Greening of the Summit

President Bush and his world colleagues have taken a decisive step toward an imperative goal: rescuing Planet Earth from centuries of environmental neglect. At their Paris conference, the leaders of the seven major industrial democracies have recognized that nothing else they seek to do will matter if the global environment is degraded to the point it cannot sustain the economic and social fabric of modern life.

Some environmental groups criticized the communique of the annual economic summit conference for lacking detail. But specifics are not as important as the nature of the strong commitment made by the leaders to a comprehensive environmental recovery program for the fragile spaceship that carries all of humankind on its journey through space and time. In fact, the communique was quite specific for a document of its sort. Nearly half of the 22 pages dealt with the environment, covering individual topics such as the greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, ocean dumping, deforestation and energy conservation.

Significantly, the leaders recognized that more must be done than merely cleaning up the mess after an industrial society has worked its will on Earth’s resources. They pledged to work toward a common goal of “preserving a healthy and balanced global environment in order to meet shared economic and social objectives.” The structure of the wording is important: “In order to meet shared economic and social objectives.” Without a healthy planet, a civilized industrial society cannot flourish.

By coincidence, the decision came just two decades after American astronauts transmitted back to Earth the first glorious photos of the home planet from the moon. It was an astounding thing to see, the vibrant cloud-draped sphere, shining a bright blue in the reflection from its vast oceans. And this past weekend, Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), the former astronaut, spoke eloquently and urgently about the fragility of the atmosphere as seen from space. The atmosphere is not the ample protective cloak it often seems to be to one standing on the ground looking up. The Earth, in fact, is separated from the hostile vacuum of space by a mere sliver of protective gases.

Fulfilling the Paris pledges is a daunting challenge. As the wealthiest and most technically advanced nation, this country must set an example by how it deals with its own pollution. As one summit observer noted, the strong environmental platform from the Paris meeting has raised expectations. People are going to look for results in the year between now and the next session, which will be held in the United States.

The Bush Administration is off to a commendable start on a number of environmental matters , such as his proposal for a vigorous new Clean Air Act. There are reports that the President will soon announce a massive tree-planting program. But there will be questions, too, about national policy that still subsidizes the cutting of the last old-growth forests and continues excessive dependence on fossil fuels, the source of much of the pollution that fouls the fragile atmospheric shield.

Bush and his six colleagues must be given full credit, however, for charting a bold new environmental course for the international community. This is not a battle that any single nation can win by itself. As is so apparent when one views those photos of Earth from space, this is one enterprise in which everyone, now and for all time, has a stake that can only be called vital.