European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 23, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and stripes columns Tom Wicker Bush must take action now on global warming when a politician changes his position he or she is usually derided for a  but Here Are two cheers for president Bush s about face decision to help poor countries Stop using chemicals destructive to Earth a vital Ozone shield. A third cheer will be due when Bush flip flops again and decides a As mounting evidence dictates a to take Quick action against global warming the so called a greenhouse  under counselling from his Iron listed chief of staff John Sununu Bush is so far willing Only to Call for More study. Also on Sununu a bad advice the president had we shed on a . Pledge to put up $25 million of a fund to help poor nations pay for substitute chemicals More a Ozone Friendly a but More expensive a than the damaging chlorofluorocarbons they be agreed to phase out. Under Strong International and Domestic pressures a including some from within the administration a Bush reversed himself and Sununu last week. That a not Only an Ozone Friendly flip Flop it should also have profitable . Economic consequences. Nations like China and India As they abandon chlorofluorocarbons will need the substitutes a for instance in China a Home refrigeration program. Those countries alone have 40 percent of the worlds population and thus can offer a substantial Market to . Manufacturers of chlorofluorocarbon substitutes. Bush still is virtually isolated in the world in his reluctance to do anything about global warming. Standing alone of course is not necessarily a reason to change nor is Sununu wrong that there is scientific uncertainty about the climatic consequences of the steady increase in Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere a an increase that is not in doubt. The White House has insisted on awaiting an exhaustive study by More than 300 experts on the climate by together by the United nations. Brought last month however an a executive summary of the . Survey was published in London a and it largely discredited the Sununu Bush do nothing  Thomas with Only a few dissenters the panel concluded that if worldwide a business As usual continues the Earth a global mean temperature could increase by 5.4 degrees fahrenheit by the end of the next Century. That would produce a global mean sea level Rise of 25 to 26 inches with significant regional variations. That a still an informed prediction not an absolute certainty since mathematical models of the atmosphere can vary but it was the most authoritative conclusion yet reached by a credible scientific body. It was Good enough moreover for prime minister Thatcher who promptly announced her decision to reduce the projected growth of Britain a Carbon dioxide emissions stabilizing them at 1990 Levels by the year 2005. Too Little too late. The United nations report called for a 60 percent immediate reduction in current greenhouse Gas emissions just to stabilize concentrations of those gases already in the atmosphere. Britain moreover emits Only about 3 percent of Carbon dioxide worldwide the United states is responsible for about 25 percent. Meanwhile in an evenhanded article in next months scientific american Robert m. White a former chief of the . Weather Bureau suggests a rational list of High priority common sense actions demanded by what is already known about global warming. White now president of the National Academy of engineering concedes the ambiguities of atmospheric models and projections and the seriousness of some scientific reservations. But just cutting the Rise in emissions is he concludes nevertheless that a a Wise course would be a one that recognized uncertainty but would not permit that uncertainty to forestall  he would begin with Steps that also make sense a for other economic and environmental reasons a first priority going to Energy conservation and efficiency. A shift from Coal and Oil to natural Gas would substantially reduce Carbon dioxide emissions a More drastic move to non Fossil Energy sources would be of even greater Benefit. Reforestation and Forest preservation would help absorb greenhouse gases. Even such beginning Steps will not be easily taken. White doubts that any policy course can do More than a a retard climate warming. And if even that much is to be accomplished George Bush a or maybe Only John Sununu a needs to do another flip Flop soon. C new York time Gorbachev to get Sununu course on democracy sometime in the fall White House chief of staff John Sununu will make a Brief trip to Moscow to instruct Mikhail Gorbachev on the operational Side of the presidency. The soviets taking their first hopeful Steps toward establishing a democracy Are not reluctant to say they Are babes in the Woods and starting from scratch after 70 years of totalitarian Rule under a communist regime and centuries longer in the czarist rulers. So Sununu is taking along his How to do it kit. He has special expertise As a former governor of new Hampshire and As the Man who has run the White House for president Bush for 1 la years. Gorbachev who is the newly elected president of the soviet Union is getting a crash course m democracy even from his own people who Are beginning to taste Liberty and the Freedom of expression. They Are Savouring it and As in All democracies giving their leaders a hard time. Took time out from the High stakes Agenda at Camp a d his a a during the superpower Summit meeting Gorbachev a fro a David to question Bush and his advisers on setting up the office of the presidency and what it entails How to handle the paperwork the communications system How to be responsive to the needs of the people and to the supreme soviet. The Gratis advice was formally started when a visiting six member soviet team was recently Given an orientation course in the mechanics of operating the executive Branch. Sununu will make a reciprocal visit in the Early fall although no Date has been set aides said. Millennium May become an overused word regarding developments Over the past six months with the passing of the cold War. Yet How can it be explained otherwise who would have believed that the soviet communists would someday be asking americans How to become a democratic society there have to be hard line muscovites who Are going through a painful adjustment to the political and sociological changes after years of indoctrination in marxist ideology. And yet the soviets seem to be handling the defeat of their system in Good Grace and anxious to emulate the Western world that affords a Quality of life their own citizens have never known. The Bottom line for them can also be the prospects of no More War or at least the diminished possibility of a devastating nuclear conflict. So Sununu once a College professor and known for his conservative political views will become a teacher once More. And Gorbachev apparently is a willing student. Clearly Gorbachev wants to have a Strong presidency and to hold his Union of 15 soviet republics together. With Ever growing dreams of secession in the Baltic and other republics that May be an impossible task. But he is a deft politician who has shown that he has the ability to Compromise a particularly when faced with the inevitable. Sununu probably wont have to Tell Gorbachev a the Buck stops Here at the desk of the president. Still he May be Able to explain that the sine qua non of the presidency in a democracy is accountability and taking responsibility. He will also learn that the Power of presidents lies More in persuasion than in dictatorial edict. Peaceful transitions from dictatorships to democracy Are happening All Over the world. They Are surely a remarkable Way to begin the 21 St Century. C United press International the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government