Bush Opposes New Ozone Layer Fund : Environment: White House says existing financial institutions should help developing nations eliminate ozone-depleting chemicals.

The Bush Administration opposes setting up an international fund to help poor countries decrease their production of ozone-depleting chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons, the White House said today.

While the Administration wants so-called CFCs eliminated and believes that “financial assistance should be made available” to help developing countries do that, President Bush believes that resources in existing international agencies are sufficient to handle it, White House spokesman Roman Popadiuk said.

The idea of a $100-million special fund to help developing nations was to be raised at an international conference on CFCs, which U.S. representatives are attending in Geneva, according to the Washington Post. The newspaper said the proposal seeks money to help Third World countries convert to alternative chemicals and identify ways to replace CFCs.

CFCs are used widely for refrigeration and some aerosol products, and their emission is depleting the ozone layer that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet rays.

“The United States believes that the health of the global environment is everyone’s responsibility and must be addressed. We support a worldwide phase-out of CFCs,” Popadiuk said in a prepared statement.

“The United States agrees that financial assistance should be made available to help developing countries phase out production of CFCs. However, we believe it is more sensible to use existing institutions and existing financial mechanisms already established by the World Bank,” he added.

It would not be sensible, Popadiuk said, to set up a new fund that would create “new rules, regulations and procedures that will have to be negotiated for every new protocol.”

“The World Bank should use existing resources,” he said.

He did not elaborate on how the World Bank might reroute existing resources for the effort.

The Administration has come under criticism by environmentalists previously for what they say is foot-dragging on the question of eliminating CFCs and failing to keep up with the leadership of more aggressive European nations.

The Administration endorsed the idea of phasing out CFCs last year, after it was proposed by Europeans.