President to get big Valentine backing Kyoto pollution treaty

MISSOULA – A Missoula-based organization plans to present a 10-foot Valentine to President Bush today in Washington, D.C.

The gesture is aimed at gaining Bush’s support for international solutions to global warming, and is timed to coincide with the Kyoto treaty going into effect on Feb. 16. The National Global Warming Coalition planned to deliver the “Kyoto Protocol Valentine to Humanity” for Bush’s signature, said David Merrill, the group’s executive director.

The Kyoto treaty sets greenhouse gas reduction targets for participating nations. Bush has withdrawn U.S. support for the treaty.

The National Global Warming Coalition is composed of 33 member organizations representing 320 groups from around the nation. The groups in the coalition represent environmental, religious, peace and justice, youth, agricultural and indigenous rights interests.

Citizens from around the United States have been mailing Kyoto Protocol Valentines to Bush, Merrill said.

Merrill said the U.S. emits 22 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Other countries that have ratified the treaty include China, India, Japan, Canada, all 15 members of the European Union and Russia.

Merrill said the group’s goals are to get the U.S. to ratify the treaty, to redirect federal energy funds to renewable energy, and to reduce greenhouse emissions.