THINGS THAT MAKE ME GO *&^%$^%$!

U.S. Compromise on Global Warming Plan Averts Impasse at Group of 8 Meeting
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HEILIGENDAMM, Germany, June 7 - The United States agreed Thursday to "consider seriously" a European plan to combat global warming by cutting in half worldwide greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, averting a trans-Atlantic deadlock at a meeting here of the world's richest industrial nations.

The compromise, worked out in tough negotiations between the United States and Germany, also endorses President Bush's recent proposal to bring together the world's largest emitting countries, including China and India, to set their own national goals for reducing emissions.

The agreement reached Thursday does not include a mandatory 50 percent reduction in global emissions by 2050, a key provision sought by Chancellor Angela Merkel, nor does it commit the United States or Russia to specific reductions.

Nevertheless, Mrs. Merkel, the host of the Group of 8 meeting, proclaimed it a major victory. She had placed climate change at the top of the agenda for the gathering, and put heavy pressure on Mr. Bush in recent days to relax his opposition to mandatory cuts in emissions, though he ultimately did not. "If you think of where we were a few weeks ago, and where we have reached today, this is a big success," a visibly relieved Mrs. Merkel told reporters in this Baltic Sea resort.

By MARK LANDLER and JUDY DEMPSEY
Published: June 8, 2007