Blair change

I just don't get this. Is it an exchange with W for pulling out of Iraq? What is the meaning of this? Blair says that it's because he now believes (though he didn't earlier this year) countries in general won't sign agreements that "harm" economic benefits or create further costs. Anyone have a good explanation? I mean, this sort of "harm" is W's argument about Kyoto. Whatever one thinks about the Kyoto Protocol, it does have 156 countries who have ratified, approved, or acceded to it. That seems like pretty good global agreement.

Tony Blair has admitted that he is changing his views on combating global warming to mirror those of President Bush - and oppose negotiating international treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol.

His admission, which has outraged environmentalists on both sides of the Atlantic, flies in the face of his promises made in the past two years and undermines the agreement he masterminded at this summer's Gleneagles Summit. And it endangers talks that opened in Ottawa this weekend on a new treaty to combat climate change.