Posted on 06/01/2007 5:31:01 AM PDT by Mark Felton
He probably figures that if he can’t deconstruct the United States by an Immigration Bill (what seems to have been his preferred method), then maybe he’ll just adopt the Democrat’s plan for tearing the country down another way by imposing massive debilitating enviro legislation. Either way, law will be so watered down, it will mean nothing any more.
Couldn't agree more.
Couldn't agree more.
When you finally pin down his position, you tend to find it is what he had previously said his position was, and that further, the half-informed articles written on it that get everyone knee-jerking are nearly completely twisted and mangled..like the whole DPW controversy over Bush having the Federal Government selling U.S. shipping ports to terrorist nations (except President Bush didn't propose the action, the Federal Government not owning the ports in the first place, no one having proposed any ports be sold, the transaction proposed would have given our Customs inspectors access to and an office in every port DPW ships from, and pretty much every other detail being screamed about being false).
Perception is reality in politics.
If the Republican base is now getting incensed and rebellious discovering his “true” positions, after the election, then you can be quite sure Bush very deliberately crafted false perceptions prior to the elction.
The only fault of the rebeliious right is their willingness to believe Bush to be an honest man in the first place and take his electioneering at face value.
But then to believe the best of a man until proven wrong has always been a “weakness” of honest men. Bush should expect the full brunt of their wrath.
Thought this article might interest you, ye of little faith:
“Bush 1, Greens 0
The president is a shrewd diplomat on global warming.
BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Friday, June 8, 2007 12:01 a.m.
Just call him George W. Bush, star international diplomat. Don’t snicker, don’t spit out your coffee. Instead, read over the final document on climate change released yesterday by the Group of Eight.
Yes, it’s a major shift in how the world will address the supposed threat of global warming. It’s also largely the vision put forth years ago by none other than George W. Bush—that international cowboy—even if few European politicians will admit it.
Don’t expect anyone to admit it. When Mr. Bush unveiled his new climate framework last week, calling on the world’s powers to reduce greenhouse emissions, it was portrayed as a capitulation. He’d removed the last “obstacle” to world unity on this issue, and seen the error of his ways. At this week’s Democratic presidential debate, every candidate vowed to fix the damage Mr. Bush had done to America’s international reputation, his Kyoto failure the obvious example.
There’s been a capitulation on global warming, but it hasn’t happened in the Oval Office. The Kyoto cheerleaders at the United Nations and the European Union are realizing their government-run experiment in climate control is a mess, one that’s incidentally failed to reduce carbon emissions. They’ve also understood that if they want the biggest players on board—the U.S., China, India—they need an approach that balances economic growth with feel-good environmentalism. Yesterday’s G-8 agreement acknowledged those realities and tolled Kyoto’s death knell. Mr. Bush, 1; sanctimonious greens, 0.
Not that the president’s handling of the climate issue has been stellar. The science of global warming is still unsettled, yet Mr. Bush in 2002 caved and laid out a voluntary emissions-reduction program. Instead of getting credit, he’s spent the ensuing years getting shellacked for not doing more. This has laid the groundwork for today’s calls for mandatory curbs that would harm the economy. It’s also given Washington an excuse to re-micromanage the energy sector. Think ethanol.
But compared with Kyoto, Mr. Bush’s vision has been sublime. The basic Kyoto philosophy is this: Set ever lower mandatory targets, ratcheting down energy use, and by extension economic growth. The program was viewed by environmentalists and politicians as a convenient excuse for getting rid of unpopular fossil fuels, such as coal. In Kyoto-world, governments exist to create draconian rules, even if those dictates are disguised by “market” mechanisms such as cap-and-trade.
President Bush’s approach is opposite: Allow economies to grow, along the way inspiring new technologies and new forms of energy that lower C02 emissions. Implicit is that C02-control technologies should focus on energy sources we use today, including fossil fuels. In Bush-world, the government is there to incentivize industry, coordinate with it, and set broad goals.
Take your pick. Under the vaunted Kyoto, from 2000 to 2004, Europe managed to increase its emissions by 2.3 percentage points over 1995 to 2000. Only two countries are on track to meet targets. There’s rampant cheating, and endless stories of how select players are self-enriching off the government “market” in C02 credits. Meanwhile, in the U.S., under the president’s oh-so-unserious plan, U.S. emissions from 2000 to 2004 were eight percentage points lower than in the prior period.
Europeans may be slow, but they aren’t silly, and they’ve quietly come around to some of Mr. Bush’s views. Tony Blair has been a leader here, and give him credit for caring enough about his signature issue to evolve. He began picking up Mr. Bush’s pro-tech themes years ago, as it became clear just how much damage a Kyoto would do to his country’s competitiveness. By the end of 2005, he admitted at a conference in New York that Kyoto was a problem. “I would say probably I’m changing my thinking about this in the past two or three years,” he said. “The truth is, no country is going to cut its growth or consumption substantially in the light of a long-term environmental problem.” He doubted there would be successor to Kyoto, which expires in 2012, and said an alternative might be “incentives” for businesses. Mr. Bush couldn’t have said it better.
Or consider nuclear plants. President Bush has pushed hard for more nuclear, with its bountiful energy at zero C02 cost. This was long anathema to British and German politicians, whose populations are virulently anti-nuke and who balked at any official recognition of nuclear benefits. As Kyoto has ratcheted down other energy sources, nuclear has looked better. By 2005, the G-8 document out of Gleneagles contained an explicit acknowledgment that nuclear energy mattered. The EU’s energy pact, signed earlier this year, also contained a nod to nuclear. Europe has also gone from trying to banish coal, to using tech to make it cleaner.
Then there’s Mr. Bush’s insistence that any “global” program must include big emitters such as China and India (Kyoto doesn’t). Though it received little press, the U.S. in 2005 started the Asia-Pacific Partnership, a voluntary climate pact between it and Australia, Japan, South Korea, China and India. Unlike Kyoto—in which a government sets a national target for emissions, and then forces a few unlucky industries to make cuts—the Partnership gets industry execs from every sector across the table from relevant government ministers, and devises practical approaches to reductions. This parallel diplomatic approach has proved far more acceptable to countries like China, and played a role in that country’s own recently released climate plan.
Pride is pride, and the Europeans haven’t entirely given up on Kyoto principles. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has spearheaded these climate talks, went into this G-8 meeting in Heiligendamm advocating binding reductions. Yet she admitted earlier this week that her plan was off the table, as the U.S. held firm.
Yesterday’s declaration, far from mandatory targets, instead sets a “global goal” of halving emissions by 2050. It invites the “major emerging economies” to join in this endeavor. It acknowledges that different approaches across the world can “coordinate rather than compete.” It reports that “technology is a key to mastering climate change” and lauds government “incentives.” It admits that “over the next 25 years, fossil fuels will remain the world’s dominant source of energy,” and talks up the “peaceful use of nuclear energy.” It even explains that any program “must be undertaken in a way that supports growth in developing, emerging and industrialized economies.” Close your eyes, and you might think this was President Bush in the Rose Garden.
Will congressional Democrats prove as pragmatic? Even as Europeans have wised up, the left has been pushing for a Kyoto here. Should Democrats start to stumble on the difficulties, they could always ask Mr. Bush—that new international climate ambassador—for some advice.”
Bush 1, Greens 0
The president is a shrewd diplomat on global warming.
BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Friday, June 8, 2007 12:01 a.m.
Just call him George W. Bush, star international diplomat. Don’t snicker, don’t spit out your coffee. Instead, read over the final document on climate change released yesterday by the Group of Eight.
Yes, it’s a major shift in how the world will address the supposed threat of global warming. It’s also largely the vision put forth years ago by none other than George W. Bush—that international cowboy—even if few European politicians will admit it.
Don’t expect anyone to admit it. When Mr. Bush unveiled his new climate framework last week, calling on the world’s powers to reduce greenhouse emissions, it was portrayed as a capitulation. He’d removed the last “obstacle” to world unity on this issue, and seen the error of his ways. At this week’s Democratic presidential debate, every candidate vowed to fix the damage Mr. Bush had done to America’s international reputation, his Kyoto failure the obvious example.
There’s been a capitulation on global warming, but it hasn’t happened in the Oval Office. The Kyoto cheerleaders at the United Nations and the European Union are realizing their government-run experiment in climate control is a mess, one that’s incidentally failed to reduce carbon emissions. They’ve also understood that if they want the biggest players on board—the U.S., China, India—they need an approach that balances economic growth with feel-good environmentalism. Yesterday’s G-8 agreement acknowledged those realities and tolled Kyoto’s death knell. Mr. Bush, 1; sanctimonious greens, 0.
Not that the president’s handling of the climate issue has been stellar. The science of global warming is still unsettled, yet Mr. Bush in 2002 caved and laid out a voluntary emissions-reduction program. Instead of getting credit, he’s spent the ensuing years getting shellacked for not doing more. This has laid the groundwork for today’s calls for mandatory curbs that would harm the economy. It’s also given Washington an excuse to re-micromanage the energy sector. Think ethanol.
But compared with Kyoto, Mr. Bush’s vision has been sublime. The basic Kyoto philosophy is this: Set ever lower mandatory targets, ratcheting down energy use, and by extension economic growth. The program was viewed by environmentalists and politicians as a convenient excuse for getting rid of unpopular fossil fuels, such as coal. In Kyoto-world, governments exist to create draconian rules, even if those dictates are disguised by “market” mechanisms such as cap-and-trade.
President Bush’s approach is opposite: Allow economies to grow, along the way inspiring new technologies and new forms of energy that lower C02 emissions. Implicit is that C02-control technologies should focus on energy sources we use today, including fossil fuels. In Bush-world, the government is there to incentivize industry, coordinate with it, and set broad goals.
Take your pick. Under the vaunted Kyoto, from 2000 to 2004, Europe managed to increase its emissions by 2.3 percentage points over 1995 to 2000. Only two countries are on track to meet targets. There’s rampant cheating, and endless stories of how select players are self-enriching off the government “market” in C02 credits. Meanwhile, in the U.S., under the president’s oh-so-unserious plan, U.S. emissions from 2000 to 2004 were eight percentage points lower than in the prior period.
Europeans may be slow, but they aren’t silly, and they’ve quietly come around to some of Mr. Bush’s views. Tony Blair has been a leader here, and give him credit for caring enough about his signature issue to evolve. He began picking up Mr. Bush’s pro-tech themes years ago, as it became clear just how much damage a Kyoto would do to his country’s competitiveness. By the end of 2005, he admitted at a conference in New York that Kyoto was a problem. “I would say probably I’m changing my thinking about this in the past two or three years,” he said. “The truth is, no country is going to cut its growth or consumption substantially in the light of a long-term environmental problem.” He doubted there would be successor to Kyoto, which expires in 2012, and said an alternative might be “incentives” for businesses. Mr. Bush couldn’t have said it better.
Or consider nuclear plants. President Bush has pushed hard for more nuclear, with its bountiful energy at zero C02 cost. This was long anathema to British and German politicians, whose populations are virulently anti-nuke and who balked at any official recognition of nuclear benefits. As Kyoto has ratcheted down other energy sources, nuclear has looked better. By 2005, the G-8 document out of Gleneagles contained an explicit acknowledgment that nuclear energy mattered. The EU’s energy pact, signed earlier this year, also contained a nod to nuclear. Europe has also gone from trying to banish coal, to using tech to make it cleaner.
Then there’s Mr. Bush’s insistence that any “global” program must include big emitters such as China and India (Kyoto doesn’t). Though it received little press, the U.S. in 2005 started the Asia-Pacific Partnership, a voluntary climate pact between it and Australia, Japan, South Korea, China and India. Unlike Kyoto—in which a government sets a national target for emissions, and then forces a few unlucky industries to make cuts—the Partnership gets industry execs from every sector across the table from relevant government ministers, and devises practical approaches to reductions. This parallel diplomatic approach has proved far more acceptable to countries like China, and played a role in that country’s own recently released climate plan.
Pride is pride, and the Europeans haven’t entirely given up on Kyoto principles. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has spearheaded these climate talks, went into this G-8 meeting in Heiligendamm advocating binding reductions. Yet she admitted earlier this week that her plan was off the table, as the U.S. held firm.
Yesterday’s declaration, far from mandatory targets, instead sets a “global goal” of halving emissions by 2050. It invites the “major emerging economies” to join in this endeavor. It acknowledges that different approaches across the world can “coordinate rather than compete.” It reports that “technology is a key to mastering climate change” and lauds government “incentives.” It admits that “over the next 25 years, fossil fuels will remain the world’s dominant source of energy,” and talks up the “peaceful use of nuclear energy.” It even explains that any program “must be undertaken in a way that supports growth in developing, emerging and industrialized economies.” Close your eyes, and you might think this was President Bush in the Rose Garden.
Will congressional Democrats prove as pragmatic? Even as Europeans have wised up, the left has been pushing for a Kyoto here. Should Democrats start to stumble on the difficulties, they could always ask Mr. Bush—that new international climate ambassador—for some advice.
Also, never mind that man made GW is bunk compared to natural, just go with the program, don’t question it, quietly regulate businesses, target tax subsidies to business that meet the “program” etc... and keep playing politics. Truth is the biggest casualty.
Leading is not compromising, politics is what Pres. Bush does best. The war on terror gave a glimmer of hope but where are we going is all I have to say.
I just wished Pres. Bush was more passionate about truth than he is about desire for Amnesty/fooling “conservatives” i.e. targeted tax breaks if you listen to daddy government. And remember, when it comes to science, government is the master, and politics of compromise the agenda.
Waiting for Bush to say out in the open, man made global warming does not pose a threat most believe, therefore F' the EU and F' most blood sucking government regulations that hamper small businesses.
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