World leaders at the G8 summit in Germany have reached an agreement on global warming only to “consider” cuts to emissions of greenhouse gases. Germany had led calls for a mandatory 50 percent cut by 2050 under a global U.N. accord. But the Bush administration has rejected any specific cuts and says it will only accept targets and goals for reducing emissions. The deal calls for member nations to negotiate a new agreement but doesn’t bind them to the outcome. British Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed the accord.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair: “This is an agreement in which we want all the major countries to be involved, including America, China, India and others, in other words, the developed and the developing world. So the possibility is here therefore for the first time of getting a global deal on climate change with substantial cuts in emissions and everyone in the deal, which is the only way that we are going to get the radical action on the climate that we need. I think this is a major, major step forward.”