Bush climate plan said too little, too late

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

PARIS (Reuters) - A U.S. plan to cap rising greenhouse gases by 2025 drew criticisms as too little, too late from delegates at 17-nation climate talks in Paris on Thursday but some welcomed it as a first firm U.S. ceiling.

On Wednesday, President George W. Bush unveiled a plan to halt the growth of U.S. emissions by 2025, toughening a previous goal of braking the growth of emissions by 2012. The United States and China are the top emitters.

"The president gave a disappointing speech," German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in a statement issued in Berlin headlined "Gabriel criticises Bush's Neanderthal speech. Losership, not Leadership".

Many delegates at the U.S.-led climate talks, on Thursday and Friday in Paris, said far faster action was needed to avert the worst effects of global warming. Most other developed nations are trying to cut emissions below 1990 levels.

"President Bush recognised the need for mandatory federal legislation to tackle climate change but what he proposed ... will not contribute to the effective tackling of climate change," European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told Reuters. He said Washington should be more ambitious.

"The American administration is starting to awaken," French climate change ambassador Brice Lalonde said. "It's a bit late."

Bush will step down in January and Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Democratic hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have all urged tougher caps on emissions than those he proposed.

"We are looking forward to whoever succeeds the present (U.S.) administration, because we believe we can probably only do better," South African Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk told reporters.