Independent Climate Change Editorial Ignores Facts

The following post was sent to my local paper, "The Grand Island Daily Independent," In response to a recent editorial that painted Bush's climate change policy in a much too favorable light. While it is a response to that article, I believe that the content and facts stand alone in supporting my argument and therefore, I'm including them here for view.

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In its Tuesday, October 2nd, Op-ed column titled “Climate change debate centers on emerging nations,” The Independent paints a rosy picture of President Bush as someone who has had a long standing and consistent view of climate change, has promoted sane policy and engaged in honest discourse. Nothing could be further from the truth.

From the outset of the Bush presidency, he has gone out of his way to ignore, deny, and ridicule, the scientific community’s assessment that climate change has been brought about and accelerated by human activity; most notably carbon emissions from petroleum burning vehicles, and until recently (in other words this year) he has denied that the phenomenon exists at all.

One of the reasons that Bush stated for not authorizing Kyoto was the fact that it would not go far enough to curb green house gas emissions in developing countries. Yet, in July 2001, the Bush administration cut funding to developing countries designed to do just that. In the “Federal Climate Change Expenditures Report to Congress” the administration indicated that it had cut funding for this program by 25%. The report, however, ignores several key programs designed to transfer energy efficiency technology to developing countries that if included, would have brought the total reduction closer to 32%.

If Bush had been serious about trimming greenhouse gasses, he could have used human innovation, such as that used 2 years ago by Japan. Japanese work places were traditionally formal places. Places where suits and ties were not only welcomed but also expected. In 2005, then Japanese environment minister Yuriko Koike, came up with the “Cool Biz Initiative” that discouraged Japanese businessmen from wearing suits and ties, and thus allowed Japanese air conditioning units to be raised a few degrees. This initiative has trimmed two million tons of green house emissions from Japan’s output, a phenomenal number, with a very simple change in attitude. The example was set by the government ministries themselves and then caught fire through other businesses.

Other facts on the Bush administrations failed support of climate change initiatives:

· July 2001, President Bush announced through then EPA director, Christine Todd Whitman, that the US was no longer interested in reopening international discussions on global warming.
· April 2002, the Bush administration moves to boot America’s top climatologists from continuing to serve on an international panel that assesses global warming
· July 2002, despite a report from the EPA stating what most scientists have believed for some time, that human activity is the major cause of global warming; The Bush administration tells congress that it needs more time to develop climate forecasting before addressing the climate change problem
· July 2003, citing the “uncertainty of the science” behind global warming, the Bush administration states that it plans to spend several more years and millions of dollars “studying,” rather than proposing solutions for, man-made climate change.
· September 2003, investigative reporting reveals that the Bush administration conspired with oil company lobbyists to undermine global warming research.
· June 2004, The Bush administration slashes funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, effectively destroying research being done on abrupt climate change

These facts clearly show that the Bush administration, has never, and likely will never, provide any meaningful discourse on global climate change. In the meantime, cataclysmic weather scenarios, rapidly melting glaciers, the release of methane plumes below melting glaciers, etc., will make dealing with global warming more and more difficult. Action, not rhetoric, is required.