Scientists at Geneva Talks Assail U.S. Stand on Global Warming

Scientists at a conference on the climate called Saturday for cuts in pollution that causes global warming, attacking the official U.S. view that tough measures could be too costly.

Task groups at the 100-nation conference concluded that energy-related emissions of gases that cause global warming, known as the greenhouse effect, should be stabilized immediately and then reduced.

They rejected the “no-regrets” policy followed by the U.S. government that argues that scientific evidence is not clear and therefore no strong measures should be taken that might be regretted later.

“Climate change has such implications for the sustainability of development that a response is justified now,” a task group on development concluded after a week of scientific assessment of the greenhouse effect.

“This should go beyond so-called ‘no-regrets’ policies, which imply that climate change alone does not call for action.”

“That’s a direct repudiation of the U.S. position that it would bankrupt the United States to curb global warming,” said Dan Becker of the Sierra Club.

Scientists say the greenhouse effect, caused by gases accumulating in the upper atmosphere and preventing heat from dissipating, is expected to cause flooding as seas rise, crop failures in some areas as droughts intensify and the extinction of thousands of species.

Eighteen West European nations--from the European Community and the European Free Trade Assn.--are expected to throw down the gauntlet to the United States on Monday with a declaration that they will at least stabilize emissions by the year 2000.

Other countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada, have already adopted similar or even stronger positions.

A ministerial meeting Tuesday and Wednesday, to be addressed by the British and French prime ministers and Jordan’s King Hussein, will conclude the climate conference with recommendations on political action.

But preliminary negotiations on a declaration that the ministers are supposed to sign appears hopelessly divided between countries that favor quick action and those that do not.

The United States, the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases, wants to avoid any commitments to stabilizing or cutting carbon emissions.