Tokyo's boss calls America selfish in climate-change fight

Pledges at G8 summit aren't enough to cut emissions, he says By BLAINE HARDEN Washington Post TOKYO — In a long, fabulous and cranky life, Shintaro Ishihara, the three-term governor of Tokyo, has specialized in the art of giving offense. The 75-year-old novelist, yachtsman, North Pole adventurer, theatrical director, nationalist fulminator and big-city boss has exuberantly offended women, immigrants, animal lovers, Africans and the French, as well as countless Asians whose nations were brutalized by Japan before and during World War II. He is not done yet. Thanks to global climate change and the Bush administration's refusal to join in the U.N. accord that is attempting to deal with it, Ishihara is just getting warmed up. "America is the most selfish country," he said during an interview in an austere meeting room in the... [read full story]