The United States will spend about US$5.8 billion US dollars in 2005 on scientific research, new technologies and programs addressing climate change, the State Department said Tuesday.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States is taking a path different from "countries with binding (greenhouse gas) emissions restrictions under the Kyoto Protocol, our destination is the same, and compatible with other efforts."

The United States has refused to participate in the 141-member Kyoto Protocol, which is to take effect on Wednesday. The Bush administration, which quit the UN-backed plan to curb global warming in 2001, has said US participation is too costly for the economy.

Of the 5.8 billion dollars to be committed to fighting climate change, about US$700 million will be available in tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs and US$200 million will be spent on foreign aid programs that contribute to climate change benefits, said Boucher.

The Bush administration is committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, said the State Department. The White House has said it wants to cut back the greenhouse gas "intensity" of the US economy-- the tonnage of greenhouse gas emissions for every million dollars of economic output -- by 18 percent by 2012.