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Bush refuses to yield on global warming
AFP (C'est 'AP' en Français!) ^ | 01/25/06

Posted on 01/25/2007 7:00:57 AM PST by presidio9

President George W. Bush refused to back down on his position on tackling global warming as he unveiled a new energy initiative this week that failed to convince environmentalists.

Bush briefly discussed global warming during his annual State of the Union address to Congress Tuesday, proposing a plan to slash America's dependence on foreign oil by using new technologies.

The US leader called for reducing US gasoline consumption by 20 percent over 10 years, mainly by raising the supply of alternative fuels like ethanol.

"America is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil," Bush told a Congress now controlled by opposition Democrats.

"And these technologies will help us be better stewards of the environment, and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change," he said.

But environmentalists were unmoved by Bush's speech, saying the United States needed to adopt policies capping emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

"The international community should abandon all hope, once and for all, that President Bush will ever really change course on climate change," said Greenpeace USA executive director John Passacantando.

The Worldwatch Institute, a Washington-based environmental research organization, said Bush's proposals "left the White House well behind the growing public and business momentum for an overhaul of US energy policy."

"For those who were hoping that President Bush would announce a u-turn in climate policy, his glancing reference to 'the challenge of climate change' was a disappointment," Worldwatch said in a statement.

The independent group noted that his speech came a day after a coalition of US companies, including Alcoa, General Electric and DuPont, urged the government to set mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions and trading in carbon emissions permits.

Bush has said he does not support mandatory government emission caps on US industry, and his administration in 2001 withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to curb greenhouse gases. He has called the pact "unrealistic."

On Wednesday, Bush said new technologies were ushering in a "post-Kyoto" era on how to feed energy-hungry economies on a climate-friendly diet of alternatives to oil.

"We can get beyond the pre-Kyoto era with a post-Kyoto strategy, the center of which is new technologies," he said in Wilmington, Delaware.

Bush's State of the Union speech came on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, an annual meeting of global government and business leaders with global warming a central issue.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who opened the Davos meeting Wednesday, called Bush's plan to reduce gasoline consumption "very sensible," but she pressed Washington to commit to a global pact on curbing carbon emissions.

The Worldwatch Institute said Bush's proposals "lacked both the breadth and the specificity" to cope with global warming and energy security, leaving it up to the US Congress to lead the way.

"It is up to Congress to pass the kind of strong new legislation that will allow the United States to catch up with the policies being enacted by other nations-and by many US states," the group said.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican like Bush, has set targets aimed at slashing the state's carbon-dioxide emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020 and by another 80 percent by 2050.

Democrats, who won control of Congress in November elections against Bush's Republicans, have taken steps to make global warming a top legislative agenda.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), who took the lower chamber's gavel in early January, announced last week the creation of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

"The science of global warming and its impact is overwhelming and unequivocal," she said last week, adding that the issue was given short shrift during the dozen years that Bush's Republicans controlled Congress.

Jeff Bingaman (news, bio, voting record), the Democratic chairman of the Senate's energy committee, said Tuesday: "By essentially ducking the issue of taking a mandatory, economy-wide approach to the problem, the president has missed a real opportunity."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: globalwarmingtheory; junkscience
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1 posted on 01/25/2007 7:00:59 AM PST by presidio9
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To: presidio9
"The science of global warming and its impact is overwhelming and unequivocal,"

Based on the following "expert"?????


2 posted on 01/25/2007 7:03:04 AM PST by traditional1
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To: presidio9

How about he doesn't join those trying to force us to drive cars we don't want and free-up ANWR and nuclear energy?


3 posted on 01/25/2007 7:03:36 AM PST by Lusis ("Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.")
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To: presidio9

Anchorage, Alaska - Anchorage has been hit with more than 74 inches of snow this season, and according to the city, it's reaching a crisis level, with snow removal on the streets becoming a big problem.


4 posted on 01/25/2007 7:05:21 AM PST by TexasCajun
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To: presidio9

Bush said nothing about 'global warming'. 'Climate change' was mentioned.


5 posted on 01/25/2007 7:06:09 AM PST by dc-zoo
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To: presidio9
They hate America and our standard of living. "Global Warming" is simply a political smokescreen to cut us down to size. No one on the Left is demanding the two biggest contributors to carbon emissions, China and India, be subject to Kyoto's restrictions.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

6 posted on 01/25/2007 7:07:44 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: presidio9
Bush has said he does not support mandatory government emission caps on US industry, and his administration in 2001 withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to curb greenhouse gases. He has called the pact "unrealistic."

That's a lie. THe U.S. never had a Kyoto commitment. The U.S. Senate, while Bill CLinton was President, overwhelmingly voted against it by something like 98-0. And the science is getting stronger that the sun is brighter and heating up the whole solar system! It's solar system warming, not global warming!

7 posted on 01/25/2007 7:09:23 AM PST by doc30 (Democrats are to morals what an Etch-A-Sketch is to Art.)
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To: traditional1; presidio9

What's all the fraccas about? He's putting out enough CO2 to stop a train! That photo just reeks of bloviation...


8 posted on 01/25/2007 7:11:47 AM PST by Froufrou
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To: doc30

"That's a lie. THe U.S. never had a Kyoto commitment."

Correct. These people get paid to rewrite history.


9 posted on 01/25/2007 7:15:12 AM PST by sageb1 (This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
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To: sageb1

I like your tagline.


10 posted on 01/25/2007 7:17:31 AM PST by bboop (Stealth Tutor)
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To: traditional1

Rising CO2 is a result, not a cause of global warming.
http://www.rocketscientistsjournal.com/2006/10/co2_acquittal.html
http://ff.org/centers/csspp/pdf/20061121_gore.pdf
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1770600/posts


11 posted on 01/25/2007 7:19:10 AM PST by Buckhead
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To: dc-zoo
I think GWB should have said the following.

After seeing the algore movie I've concluded that unless we take drastic steps, all is lost, therefore, by Executive Order, I am instituting the following regulations.

All demonRATs must turn in their drivers licenses and park all vehicles.

All demonRATs must turn off all electricity and heating fuels in their homes.

Problem solved.

12 posted on 01/25/2007 7:39:54 AM PST by USS Alaska (Nuke the terrorist savages - In Honor of Standing Wolf)
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To: Froufrou
"That photo just reeks of bloviation..."

That's exactly an accurate description, and the photo is "proof"!

LOL

13 posted on 01/25/2007 7:54:28 AM PST by traditional1
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To: Buckhead
Yeah, that's why I'm not a rocket scientist!

LOL

I like seeing Al "HE BETRAYED US" Gore looking like the fool he is, speaking without knowing what the words mean....

14 posted on 01/25/2007 7:55:48 AM PST by traditional1
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To: traditional1

Seriously, the sight of it, and some of the photos I've seen of Pelosi and Hillary, make me want to run, RUN I say, and get botox'd until my face is frozen.


15 posted on 01/25/2007 7:56:38 AM PST by Froufrou
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To: presidio9

Most scientific conclusions are based upon years of data.
Wait until we have about 400 years of data before concluding
that man causes global warming.


16 posted on 01/25/2007 8:48:14 AM PST by upcountryhorseman (An old fashioned conservative)
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To: presidio9

He could do a lot more. And he should, in the interest of economic integrity.


17 posted on 01/25/2007 10:17:23 AM PST by cogitator
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To: cogitator
And he should, in the interest of economic integrity.

Of all the goofy crackpot points that you have made on this website, that may be the goofiest.

18 posted on 01/25/2007 10:19:03 AM PST by presidio9 (There is something wonderful about a country that produces a brave and humble man like Wesley Autrey)
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To: traditional1
Better image:

(Thanks to Clint N. Suhks)

19 posted on 01/25/2007 10:24:00 AM PST by CedarDave
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To: presidio9
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), who took the lower chamber's gavel in early January, announced last week the creation of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

"The science of global warming and its impact is overwhelming and unequivocal," she said last week, adding that the issue was given short shrift during the dozen years that Bush's Republicans controlled Congress.

Bull crap. Global climate change is occurring, but the impact from man is unknown or minimal at worst. This is just a backdoor way to institutionalize a global distribution of wealth from the countries that have a capitalist system to third world socialist societies, which is what would be expected of the Democrats. Of course, their whining and groaning about job loss to third world countries is nothing more than a cover as more jobs will be lost if their misguided ideas become policy and law.

20 posted on 01/25/2007 10:31:32 AM PST by CedarDave
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