White House Week
A Friend in Need, But Not Always a Friend Indeed
He may have stood solidly by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the wake of the London terrorist attacks, but George Bush was not nearly so supportive when it came to Blair's initiatives at the Group of Eight summit last week. The United States, for example, refused to accept Britain's proposal to set targets for reducing greenhouse gases, which many scientists blame for atmospheric warming. Bush said the proposal would wreck the U.S. economy and cost millions of jobs. Instead, the G-8 leaders endorsed a process to "slow down and then in time reverse the rise in harmful greenhouse gas emissions," as Blair put it. Blair also sought a huge aid package for Africa, and again it was Bush who reined him in, largely because Bush insisted on more accountability from African leaders. But the G-8, with Bush's endorsement, did approve a wide-ranging assistance package, including an increase in aid to African nations from the current $25 billion a year to $50 billion annually--with European Union help--by 2010. The package also included debt relief for 18 of the world's poorest countries, 14 of them in Africa. Blair conceded that he wanted more but that this was all the traffic would bear. "All of this does not change the world tomorrow," Blair said. "It is a beginning, not an end." Bush, not wishing to cause his pal from Downing Street any further agitation, let him sum up the summit on his own and headed back to the United States without a final-day press conference.
Bush: Maybe It's Time to Grow Up
About an hour before the terrorists struck in London, President Bush was in a jolly mood--trying to make light of his bike mishap the previous day. The president had decided to take his mountain bicycle for a speed run on the grounds of the Gleneagles golf resort in Scotland, site of the G-8 meetings. But Bush's bike slid on wet pavement, and he ran into a British security officer who was standing along the route, sending Bush and the man sprawling. The officer was taken to a local hospital for treatment of what appeared to be relatively minor injuries, and Bush suffered scrapes and bruises to his wrist and arm that required bandaging. He tried to laugh it off: "The pavement was slick, and the bike came out from underneath me," he said. "It just goes to show that I should act my age." The president turned 59 last week.
The (Oil) Answer Is Blowin' in the Wind
With the Energy Department planning to meet President Bush's goal of having 700 million gallons of oil this summer in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the administration is bracing for congressional demands to tap the reserve to help cut oil prices. But Energy Department and other administration officials said this week that gas prices alone would not be the driver in tapping the reserve, set aside to ease demand in the event of a terrorist attack or natural disaster. With a nasty hurricane season predicted, the administration is open to tapping the reserve if weather slows Gulf of Mexico oil production, officials said. Meanwhile, officials said they don't expect oil prices to drop once the 700 million goal is reached and the supplies now being diverted are made available to the general public. That's because the government is buying about 100,000 barrels a day, compared with the U.S. consumption of 20 million barrels a day.
With Kenneth T. Walsh and Paul Bedard Paul Bedard, Kenneth T. Walsh and Paul Bedard Paul Bedard, Kenneth T. Walsh and Paul Bedard
This story appears in the July 18, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
advertisement
