"Australia Urges Voluntary Emission Goals"

[GreenPartyVoter]

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Australia's leader urged his Pacific Rim counterparts on Sunday to forge a new agreement on climate change - one that would reject binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions in favor of voluntary goals.

Prime Minister John Howard said a new international agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol must appeal to all nations - including developing countries such as China and India, who are currently not bound by the U.N.-backed pact's reduction targets.

Australia and the United States are the only two industrialized countries not to ratify Kyoto, arguing that binding emission targets could harm economic growth and leave them at a competitive disadvantage to developing countries not held to the pact's targets.

"We need a new flexible framework that includes a long-term global goal and encourages a wide range of national actions by all," Howard said at a news conference.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20070902/D8RDCGPO0.html

I am very curious to know, how does the average Australian feel about this?