Bush's reversal on climate change

Quick disclaimer: I am no longer a frequent poster or reader of DU, so forgive me if I am repeating an already covered topic.

I am wondering who amongst the DU members would give Bush high marks (medium marks at least?) for his seeming reversal on climate change. I think Jon Stewart's caricature of "The Procrastinator" is apt. But, at least, this reversal on climate and pollution issues will not allow a possible President McCain to ignore environmental issues like Bush did for his first seven years.

I think Obama is going to win anyway, but it can only be a good thing if conservatives get on the environmental bandwagon, albeit late.

Frequent DU participants' input especially encouraged. That said, I am not averse to recognizing *anyone* doing the right thing, even if it is long overdue.

Thanks, DU. :)

Of all people in this country, the president is the public figure who should be ahead of the curve on this issue.

That he comes out within months of the end of his term and more than a year after DuPont, BP, PG&E, and other corporations (US-CAP) testified before congress (Jan 07) that climate change is real does not earn the idiot any points.

That says it all. His seeming reversal. This from the man who gave us an up-to-$100,000 tax credit for buyers of gas-guzzling SUVs and Hummers. He's had no interest in climate change; he's not about to start now.

It's all cosmetic...

Not necessarily "high" but at least medium. Iow, I give him props for recognizing the scientific consensus that anthropogenic global warming is a reality.

One of bush's biggest faults is his sticking with a concept even long after the bulk of evidence contradicts it.

When a politician changes his mind/position for the better, that's a good thing. So, sure. "medium" props.

In the case of global warming, he has done this.

talk is cheap...he has been a denier of global warming for 8 years

Thanks, all thoughtful responses. I pretty much agree with you all. But when all is said and done, it's better for us that he FINALLY got on board with the pressing environmental issue. Even if he is a total dick.

Cheney's Office Pushed for Trims to EPA Congressional Testimony
By Kate Klonick - July 8, 2008, 10:36AM

Vice President Dick Cheney's office apparently worked to cut swaths of the Center for Disease Control's congressional testimony on the effects of greenhouse gases.

The information was revealed in a letter from recently-resigned associate deputy EPA administrator, Jason Burnett, obtained by the AP, to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA):

"The Council on Environmental Quality and the office of the vice president were seeking deletions to the CDC testimony (concerning) ... any discussions of the human health consequences of climate change," Burnett has told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

. . . The letter by Burnett for the first time suggests that Cheney's office was deeply involved in downplaying the impacts of climate change as related to public health and welfare, Senate investigators believe.

Cheney's office also objected last January over congressional testimony by Administrator Johnson that "greenhouse gas emissions harm the environment."

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/cheneys_office_trimmed_epa_con.php

No points for Monkey-boy and his minions. They are NEVER on the side of the angels.

he's a lame duck. He can only set expectations for subsequent administrations and commute sentences at this point. Come to think of it, that's all he's ever done, but at least it's one for our side this time.

It's so unrealistic, it must be real!

sometimes the weird is the most normal, and sometimes the fake is the most real.

OMG i am so zen.

One of the world's most respected climate scientists on Tuesday slammed the G8 summit's goal of halving global warming emissions by 2050 as "worse than worthless."

Leaders of the world's richest nations, meeting in Japan, "are taking actions that guarantee that we deliver to our children climate catastrophes that are out of our control," US expert James Hansen said in an e-mail to AFP.

EDIT

"A statement of any goal for percent reduction is worthless. Indeed, it is worse than that: it is a pretence that they understand the problem and plan to take needed actions," said Hansen. The only way to avoid climate catastrophe, argued Hansen, was to halt the emissions of coal, the most abundant and highly polluting of all fossil fuels.

He reiterated a call for a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants and for existing ones to be fitted with technology to capture the CO2 and store it deep underground. "Otherwise we are sending a death sentence to uncountable species and are leaving our children with an ungodly mess," he said.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/2007/080708143120.2b47rk0x.html

The announcement today has no baseline year, no plans or targets of ANY kind between now and 2020 for nations developed or otherwise to do ANYTHING except shake the magic feathered technology stick and issue press releases.

This is right up there with Bush's Earth Day "plan" which was, to wit, to begin to cut US emissions in 2025. That is, to do nothing in terms of policy but to announce that somehow, after a further 17 years of increased emissions, US GHG output would somehow begin to fall by means of undisclosed mechanisms and unannounced strategies.

and it's unfeasible (from some experts' perspectives), so Bush is not actually offering an actual PLAN. But he has admitted the problem. I think that's the progress to which I am referring.

And as we're just past the 20th anniversary of Hansen going to Capitol Hill and saying that we may have a problem, you'll forgive me for saying that I think you set the progress bar fairly low.

Then again, with The Littlest President, what would one expect?

never heard it before. again, i am really looking towards what this development means to the next pres, all but disregarding the lame duck.