Political Crossfire Forums

[Citizendave]

Quote:

Jan. 19, 2006

WASHINGTON - Six former heads of the Environmental Protection Agency — five Republicans and one Democrat — accused the Bush administration Wednesday of neglecting global warming and other environmental problems.

......All of the former administrators and EPA’s current chief, Stephen Johnson, raised their hands when asked by the event moderator whether they believe global warming is a real problem, and again when he asked if humans bear significant blame.

......“If we wait for every single scientist who has a thought on the issue of climate change to agree, we will never do anything,” [Carol Browner] said. “If this agency had waited to completely understand the impacts of DDT, the impacts of lead in our gasoline, there would probably still be DDT sprayed and lead in our gasoline.”
[url]
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10913795/
[/url]


The skeptics and deniers on this site can debate the science until they are both purged and full of themselves, but the politics of this issue is headed in one direction: towards reform.

Face it guys, you are losing this one.

[Citizendave]

From Bush's State of the Union address....

Quote:

Tonight I'm proposing $1.2 billion in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles.

A simple chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen generates energy, which can be used to power a car, producing only water, not exhaust fumes.

With a new national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles to taking these cars from laboratory to showroom, so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free.

[url] http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/28/sotu.transcript/ [/url]



Even with the deficit as high as it is, Bush is willing to fund a car which does not burn gas. If his administration thought Global Warming was a hoax (like some of the members of this site) he would not be bothering with this proposal.

Bush is adverse to regulation, but he's willing to spend money on a problem which he percieves as real to guide the private sector along.

[David]

It has nothing to do with global warming,it's to wean the US off of foreign oil not stop global warming.I take it you didn't listen to the speech and are relying on other peoples commentary.You miss a lot that way.

[Citizendave]

Hi David,

After researching, I would have to concede the point. Bush talks about alternative fuels, but not GW. I saw the speech and read between the lines incorrectly.

I have to admit, I have bad luck when I try to interpret Bush's stance on GW. Below is my first post on Political Crossfire:


citizendave wrote:
In fact, if you heard the [2004] State of the Union Address, President Bush has stated his commitment to developing alternative energy sources.

and the response by Genus:

Genus wrote:
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaa[breathes]hahahahahahahahahahaha....

[Citizendave]

From NBC news tonight:

Quote:
Brian Williams:
"Today a group of Evangelical Christians spoke out on a topic not normally associated with Evangelical Christians, they spoke out on Global Warming. They are normally reliable supporters of President Bush, but they broke with President Bush."

"....The evidence of human induced global warming, they say, is overwhelming."

Unnamed Evangelical:
"However we treat the world, that's how we're treating Jesus."

Reporter Tom Costello:
"[the group consists of] ...85 ministers, college presidents..."

"The senate passed a non binding resolution calling for reductions on greenhouse gasses last summer."

"The Evangelical leaders are calling for mandatory, business friendly controls on greenhouse emissions."


[url] http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ [/url]



On MSNBC click on "Evangelical environmentalists" if you want to see the 2 minute video.

Science aside, the politics is such that deniers and skeptics are going to get the rug pulled out from underneath them.

[Citizendave]

Quote:

Feb. 16, 2006 — The hulking southern glaciers of Greenland are melting rapidly — at a rate quicker than previously thought.

In only five years, the amount of freshwater the melting glaciers have dumped into the Atlantic has nearly doubled, which has caused many scientists to conclude that current projections of how fast sea levels will rise have been too low.....

..... An increase in surface air temperatures appears to be causing the glaciers to flow faster — at up to 8 to 9 miles a year at their fastest clip. They have also been dumping increased volumes of ice into the Atlantic.

"The behavior of the glaciers that dump ice into the sea is the most important aspect of understanding how an ice sheet will evolve in a changing climate," Rignot told The Associated Press. "It takes a long time to build and melt an ice sheet, but glaciers can react quickly to temperature changes."

That stepped-up flow accounted for about two-thirds of the net 54 cubic miles of ice Greenland lost in 2005. That compares with 22 cubic miles lost in 1996, Rignot said.....

[url]
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1627160&page=1&ad=true&ad=true [/url]



Bah! Democrats!