GREENPEACE FLOATS HOT AIR BALLOON OVER SUMMIT DELEGATION
US President Bush targeted over Kyoto Protocol rejection

20 April 2001

Quebec City - Greenpeace today flew a hot air balloon over the Summit of the Americas delegation sending a message to US President George W. Bush that climate change and the Kyoto Protocol should be top priorities for the US government.

The summit is the first foreign visit by US President Bush since his recent rejection of the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change.

"Leaders from the 33 other countries at the summit should tell Bush to get with the program on climate change prevention," said Steven Guilbeault, climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Canada. "Why would they negotiate an agreement with the leader of a rogue nation that has reneged on its climate change commitments? Why even bother to sit down at the table with a leader who will change his mind willy nilly depending on the state of the US economy.

The balloon reads "SAVE THE CLIMATE" on one side and "STOP GLOBAL WARMING" on the other side.

On April 18, while at a conference in Washington DC, the President of COP6, Jan Pronk, said that "The Kyoto Protocol is alive and we will go ahead anyway without the USA." The following day, the Japanese House of Councilors adopted a unanimous resolution on the Kyoto Protocol (190-0) calling for "Japan's early ratification".

"The Kyoto Protocol is far from being dead. Bush should protect the environment, not corporate polluters", said Guilbeault.

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement which sets goals for the reduction of greenhouse gases that are causing the world's climate to change in dangerous and often unpredictable ways.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

In Quebec City please contact:
- Climate and Energy Campaigner, Steven Guilbeault: (m) +1 514 944 2650
- Media Officer, Alison Turner: (m) +1 514 598 0471
In Montreal please contact:
- Communications Officer, Clode de Guise: +1 514 933 0021 ext. 17