U.S. finally taking warming seriously: Gorbachev

By Russell McCulley

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Much time has been lost in the fight to stop global warming, but the United States, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has finally begun to take the problem seriously, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said on Friday.

He made his comments in New Orleans, which is recovering from Hurricane Katrina, the powerful 2005 storm that some experts have said was part of a trend toward stronger and more frequent hurricanes due to man-made warming.

"I'm sorry the United States has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol," Gorbachev said, referring to the international accord to reduce emissions of gases that contribute to global warming.

"But I see that the U.S. position is changing, that the U.S. is making serious proposals that will be important in the future," he told Reuters through a translator.

"But we have lost and we are still losing time," said the 76-year-old Gorbachev, who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until its collapse in 1991. He heads environmental group Green Cross International and was in town for its international general assembly.

"We are facing a conflict between men and the rest of nature. We have come to a red line in that conflict," he later told reporters.

The Bush administration, which refused to join in the Kyoto Protocol, has been skeptical about the effect of human activity on global warming, but recently hosted an international meeting about it.

President George W. Bush called for a long-term goal to reduce warming, but did not endorse mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions.