Admission - Bush's simply admitting global warming exists isn't enough. Something must be done.
Gerald Eisman
July 01, 2006
Admission - A voluntary acknowledgment of truth. 2. A fact or statement granted or admitted; a concession.
President George Bush’s acknowledgment that an increase in human-caused greenhouse gas emissions is contributing to global warming signals more than a shift in rhetoric. It signals the fact that, at last, he is beginning to think INSIDE the box. What it shows is, when bludgeoned with the facts often enough, even the hardest of heads begins to crack and political rhetoric eventually crumbles when it runs head-on into facts.
Before arriving at the Group of Eight summit in Scotland, Bush publicly acknowledged that the surface of the Earth was getting warmer and that human-caused greenhouse gases were contributing to the problem. He also said he would reject any calls for action by fellow G8 members to impose limits on carbon emissions. Some people will simply have their own way even when they haven't a clue what that way is.
The National Academy of Sciences announced that data amassed after reconstructing global average surface temperatures for the last two millennia show that human activities are responsible for much of the recent global warming. Actually, the findings show that earth is hotter now than it has been in the last 2000 years.
Discoveries by other agencies have shown that global warming produced about half the hurricane-fueled warmth in the North Atlantic in 2005. The research further pointed out that natural cycles of weather were a minor factor in the trend. Skeptical of the reports, congress sought answers to how researchers could project backward two thousand years and determine temperatures. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), chairman of the House Science Committee, asked the academy for the report after House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tx) launched an investigation of three climate scientists.
To this writing, the Bush administration has maintained that the threat from global warming is not severe enough to warrant new pollution controls. According to the White House, such controls would cost America 5 million jobs. Is this a fact? NO! The Bush administration has done absolutely no research to substantiate its claim that policies to reduce carbon dioxide pollution from power plants would do any harm to the U.S. economy. While industry trade associations have published many misleading claims of economic harm, two comprehensive government analyses have shown that it is possible to reduce greenhouse pollution to levels without harming the U.S. economy.
Since taking office in 2000, President Bush has opposed the Kyoto Protocol. In March 2001, after reneging on a campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, President George W. Bush announced his administration's opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 international accord setting limits on greenhouse gas emissions. In renouncing the protocol, the president and members of his administration have used a number of seriously flawed arguments.
There are no countries exempt from the protocol, contrary to administration rhetoric. Developed countries such as the United States, with only 25 percent of the world's population, are responsible for more than 75 percent of the accumulated greenhouse gas pollution in the atmosphere. Nonetheless, many developing countries - including China, India, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina - have made progress in reducing the greenhouse gas emission rates from their economies through improved transport, forestry and other policies. While U.S. carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, emissions in China have dropped more than 17 percent since 1997. We are now the world's leader in greenhouse gas emissions.
Now that Bush recognizes that fact, has he any plan to correct the problem? NO! The administration has announced that it is conducting a cabinet-level review of the global warming and that the president believes that working with friends and allies we can develop technologies, market-based incentives, and other innovative approaches to combat global climate change." The administration has not offered any explanation for announcing its conclusions before conducting the review.
Is there anything Americans can do to help in some small way to alleviate the situation? Yes!
By doing any or all of these simple improvements you will take a step toward helping keep global warming in check. There is one more thing we all can do as Americans to help in this endeavor. Make it clear to every current and aspiring politician that in order to get our vote, they absolutely must take a positive stance on global warming. Not only does America depend on that, the whole earth does.
President George Bush’s acknowledgment that an increase in human-caused greenhouse gas emissions is contributing to global warming signals more than a shift in rhetoric. It signals the fact that, at last, he is beginning to think INSIDE the box. What it shows is, when bludgeoned with the facts often enough, even the hardest of heads begins to crack and political rhetoric eventually crumbles when it runs head-on into facts.
Before arriving at the Group of Eight summit in Scotland, Bush publicly acknowledged that the surface of the Earth was getting warmer and that human-caused greenhouse gases were contributing to the problem. He also said he would reject any calls for action by fellow G8 members to impose limits on carbon emissions. Some people will simply have their own way even when they haven't a clue what that way is.
The National Academy of Sciences announced that data amassed after reconstructing global average surface temperatures for the last two millennia show that human activities are responsible for much of the recent global warming. Actually, the findings show that earth is hotter now than it has been in the last 2000 years.
Discoveries by other agencies have shown that global warming produced about half the hurricane-fueled warmth in the North Atlantic in 2005. The research further pointed out that natural cycles of weather were a minor factor in the trend. Skeptical of the reports, congress sought answers to how researchers could project backward two thousand years and determine temperatures. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), chairman of the House Science Committee, asked the academy for the report after House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tx) launched an investigation of three climate scientists.
To this writing, the Bush administration has maintained that the threat from global warming is not severe enough to warrant new pollution controls. According to the White House, such controls would cost America 5 million jobs. Is this a fact? NO! The Bush administration has done absolutely no research to substantiate its claim that policies to reduce carbon dioxide pollution from power plants would do any harm to the U.S. economy. While industry trade associations have published many misleading claims of economic harm, two comprehensive government analyses have shown that it is possible to reduce greenhouse pollution to levels without harming the U.S. economy.
Since taking office in 2000, President Bush has opposed the Kyoto Protocol. In March 2001, after reneging on a campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, President George W. Bush announced his administration's opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 international accord setting limits on greenhouse gas emissions. In renouncing the protocol, the president and members of his administration have used a number of seriously flawed arguments.
There are no countries exempt from the protocol, contrary to administration rhetoric. Developed countries such as the United States, with only 25 percent of the world's population, are responsible for more than 75 percent of the accumulated greenhouse gas pollution in the atmosphere. Nonetheless, many developing countries - including China, India, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina - have made progress in reducing the greenhouse gas emission rates from their economies through improved transport, forestry and other policies. While U.S. carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, emissions in China have dropped more than 17 percent since 1997. We are now the world's leader in greenhouse gas emissions.
Now that Bush recognizes that fact, has he any plan to correct the problem? NO! The administration has announced that it is conducting a cabinet-level review of the global warming and that the president believes that working with friends and allies we can develop technologies, market-based incentives, and other innovative approaches to combat global climate change." The administration has not offered any explanation for announcing its conclusions before conducting the review.
Is there anything Americans can do to help in some small way to alleviate the situation? Yes!
- We can buy energy-saving appliances. Purchase only items that display the energy-star label.
- Install efficient shower-heads or clean old heads for more efficient water use and heating.
- Lower the temperature of your hot water tank to 120 degrees.
- Insulate your home, water-heater and all exposed pipes.
- Get into recycling of bottles, cans, paper goods and plastics.
- Buy products made of recycled materials.
- Keep automobile and truck tired properly inflated.
- Make your next auto purchase a hybrid.
- If you are a home-owner, invest in deciduous trees for shade around the house, and
- Invest in "green power" for electricity in your home.
By doing any or all of these simple improvements you will take a step toward helping keep global warming in check. There is one more thing we all can do as Americans to help in this endeavor. Make it clear to every current and aspiring politician that in order to get our vote, they absolutely must take a positive stance on global warming. Not only does America depend on that, the whole earth does.
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