Surprise Us, Mr. President

President Bush no doubt hoped to kill the Kyoto treaty on reduction of global warming when he derided it as “fatally flawed” in March. On Monday, however, 178 nations enthusiastically approved the treaty, albeit a more modest version, at a summit in Bonn, Germany. Bush’s denunciation seems actually to have galvanized global agreement on a host of specific steps to control climate change.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell began damage control Tuesday, pleading that the administration will soon unveil “some new ideas” to reduce the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Powell’s promise is unlikely to take the heat off Bush, however. As Paula Dobriansky, the administration’s top official in Bonn, discovered after being loudly booed there while making the same pledge, the global community isn’t likely to believe Bush until they see him match altruistic rhetoric with deed.

As a first step, Bush should begin supporting parts of the treaty sure to benefit the economy. Start with the treaty’s “emissions trading scheme,” based on a U.S. sulfur dioxide emissions control program that the Wall Street Journal calls “fabulously successful.”

The treaty also has a “clean development mechanism,” which lets rich nations earn credits by providing energy-efficient technologies to poorer countries. The U.S. would stand to pick up a large share of that business.

Of course, Bush should do more than support whatever benefits his nation’s most narrow self-interests. He should start with pending legislation by two California Democrats, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. George Miller, that would require makers of sport-utility vehicles to meet the fuel economy standards of automobiles by 2011.

If Sen. James M. Jeffords (I-Vt.) weren’t so far down on the White House friends list after his departure from the Republican Party, we would also ask Bush to back a Jeffords bill that would require power plants to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions.

Conventional wisdom has it that Bush, whose presidential campaign was heavily backed by oil and gas companies, is loath to embrace any “green” policies. But surely he knows that polls show moderate Republicans doubting a party they increasingly regard as anti-environment. And surely he recalls his father’s pledge at an international summit in 1992 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Bush has everything to gain and nothing to lose by surprising us.