Japan Vows Climate Cut

Captain Planet will be proud of Yukio Hatoyama, due to take over as Japanese prime minister on September 16. Hatoyama has pledged that Japan will cut its emissions by 25 percent by 2020, compared to 1990 emissions levels. The targets are more ambitious than those of many industrialized nations, particularly considering that Japan is the world's fifth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and that the targets essentially amount to cutting the nation's emissions by one third in just 11 years. The new government says it will achieve its targets through emissions trading, renovating housing, subsidizing solar panels, and introducing low-energy technologies in cars. Hatoyama's plan, which parts of the auto industry will probably lobby against, is contingent on other nations agreeing to targets at December's climate talks in Copenhagen.