Sweden's conservative prime minister goes to Washington next week with hopes of involving the White House in global climate talks, but knowing there is no point in bashing the White House for past disagreements with Europe over greenhouse emissions. «You can't have the attitude of 'let's go slap everyone on the wrist,»' Fredrik Reinfeldt told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. «We have to listen to how the Americans want to do things.» President George W. Bush has been heavily criticized in Europe for refusing to back the Kyoto treaty on climate change, saying its mandated cuts on greenhouse gas emissions would harm the U.S. economy, according to AP. European leaders now insist that the Americans must come aboard when the next round of global emissions cuts are negotiated _ a process Reinfeldt hopes to finish when Sweden hosts the European Union presidency in 2009. «Climate change is for real, it's happening faster than we may have thought,» Reinfeldt said at the waterfront government office in Stockholm. «It also affects American politics ... to an extent that it did not when the Kyoto agreement was adopted» in the late 1990s. Reinfeldt will meet Bush on Tuesday on his first trip to Washington since his center-right coalition swept to power in September elections. The 41-year-old conservative leader will also testify before a House committee on global warming. «It's going to be very exciting. I'm sure there will be a cross-examination on what works, what are you doing in Sweden, what does the European strategy look like.» Sweden is among the few countries on track to meet their emissions targets under the Kyoto treaty and strives to be a world leader in clean technology. The government offers a 10,000 kronor ($1,400) cash award for people who buy a so-called green car, with low emissions of carbon dioxide. However, the country has backtracked on the previous government's goal of breaking Sweden's dependence on fossil fuels by 2020 _ a target that Reinfeldt said was too ambitious. «We may not make it by 2020, but if it happens a little later then that's also fine,» he said. Sweden's domestic energy production is dominated by hydroelectric and nuclear power, but the Scandinavian also imports oil, which accounts for about one-third of the energy consumption. -- SPA
