Bush Calls for More Study of Warming : Environment: President criticized for go-slow approach on greenhouse effect.

President Bush called for more study into the causes of climate changes today and was immediately criticized for a go-slow approach on the issue of global warming.

The President, receiving only polite applause at the beginning and end of his address, told delegates to an international conference on global warming: “Environmental policies that ignore the economic factor, the human factor are destined to failure.”

Bush repeatedly emphasized the link between environmental consequences and economic costs. “All of us must be certain we preserve our environmental well-being and our economic welfare,” Bush said. He called these “two sides of the same coin.”

However, some delegates to the conference criticized the Administration’s cautious approach to dealing with the so-called greenhouse effect, where pollutants released in Earth’s atmosphere are believed to trap sunlight and lead to warming of the planet.

“Gaps in knowledge must not be used as an excuse for worldwide inaction,” said West Germany Environmental Minister Klaus Topfer in a statement.

He said the White House conference should include debate over what measures might be taken to curb global-warming pollution.

Bush told his audience that prominent scientists come down on both sides of the issue--some claiming that failure to control airborne pollutants can lead to series global warming and others disputing such contentions.

“Where does that leave us?” Bush asked. “What we need are facts, the stuff that science is made of.”

The President’s remarks opened a two-day White House conference. Bush avoided making a specific commitment in his remarks.

Bush, carefully using the phrase climate change instead of global warming, told his audience that recognizing the economic realities of the cost of environmental cleanup “is in the interest of every nation here today.”

The cautious approach taken by the White House has prompted some of the delegates to the conference to complain that the gathering is being used solely to promote the U.S. position on global warming.