Bush climate-change research won’t research climate-change effects
According to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, the “more research” President Bush is always touting as his response to climate change is overlooking an area some might consider important — namely, what effects global warming might have on people and the environment (oh, that!). In fact, the GAO report to be released today says that none of the 21 studies of climate change the administration plans to publish by 2007 will include assessments of its possible effects on agriculture, water, energy, or biological diversity (oh, those!). This is in violation of the 1990 Global Change Research Act, which requires the federal government to produce a report on the consequences of climate change every four years. Critics say the research program was deliberately jiggered to prevent it from generating alarming findings that might increase political pressure for action. But without accurate information, said the GAO, “it may be difficult for the Congress and others to use this information effectively as the basis for making decisions on climate policy.” You think?
