On Wednesday president Bush gave the year 2025 as deadline for halting the growth of greenhouse-gas emissions. According to Mr.Bush, new technologies are "the key" for resolving the soon-to-be delicate issue of climate change. One of the more specific aspects the president went into was this: power plant emissions should peak within the next 10 to 15 years and then decline.

"We will reduce emission levels in the power sector well below where they were projected to be when we first announced our climate strategy in 2002," Mr. Bush said. "There are a number of ways to achieve these reductions, but all responsible approaches depend on accelerating the development and deployment of new technologies."

As found in the latest annual report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, released today, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 1.1 percent during 2006 when compared to the previous year. This decrease became possible because Americans burned less fossil fuels and also they used less electricity than in 2005. The report is part of a bigger set of reports submitted by the United States to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which is responsible for organizing  intergovernmental efforts in order to deal with climate change.

There is a clear connection between emissions ans economy, as clearly found in the report: overall emissions have increased with 14.7 percent in the 1990-2006 period, as has the U.S.economy (with 59 percent). One of the solution mentioned by the president was the carbon capture-and-sequestration technology, which means injecting carbon dioxide deep into the ground. The method however hasn’t been made available yet.

Of course there are several technical solutions that could be tried for repairs but still, the best way is prevention, that means cutting back on emissions and taking advantage of the abundent, very accessible non-polluting energy sources.