Bush Misleads on Global Warming
Campaigning for the presidency in 2000, George W. Bush promised to place mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions to control global warming.1 After he assumed office - in what was widely seen as payback for the energy industry that helped finance his campaign - Bush quickly reneged on his pledge.2 Bush claimed such regulations were inappropriate because there was no clear scientific link between human activity and global warming.3
But last week, a report signed by Bush's Secretary of Commerce Don Evans and Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham,4 concluded, "rising temperatures in North America are due in part to human activity."5 The report found that global warming was already causing draught, damaging farms and changing migration patterns.6
Nevertheless, the Bush administration is still content to do nothing. John H. Marburger, the president's top science adviser, said the report has "no implications for policy."7 Bush himself denies that there has been any change in the administration's position. Asked by the New York Times to explain the switch, Bush replied "Ah, did we?...I don't think so."8
Sources:
1)"Bait and Switch," Pollution Engineering, 12/01/03.
2)"Bush u-turn on climate change wins few friends," The Guardian, 8/27/04.
3)"Bush administration report links human acts to global warming," The Boston Globe, 8/27/04
4)"Our Changing Planet: The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005," U.S. Climate Change Science Program , 8/25/04.
5)"Administration Shifts on Global Warming," Washington Post, 8/27/04.
6)"White House Climate Policy Remains Unchanged in Face of Science Shift," Natural Resources Defense Council, 8/26/04.
7)"Administration Shifts on Global Warming," Washington Post, 8/27/04.
8)"White House cites human role in global warming," CNN, 8/27/04.
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