George W. Bush

Krupp plays along

My ongoing, borderline-obsessive series about how %$@! awful this Washington Post piece is continues. In this episode, we focus on Fred Krupp of Environmental Defense. I’ve tried to give Krupp the benefit of the doubt. The green movement needs somebody sucking up to corporations. (I say that with total sincerity.) But it seems pretty clear […]

‘Environmentalists say’ the WaPo should learn to distinguish rhetoric from reality

In an ongoing series about the world-historical suckage of a recent WaPo piece, we come now to the difference between rhetoric and policy. I don’t know about you, but when I see a headline like “In Bush’s Final Year, The Agenda Gets Greener,” I think, “oh, the policy agenda is getting greener.” And that’s probably […]

The Washington Post offers a late entry for Worst Story of the Year

While I was on vacation, the Washington Post published one of the most craptastic pieces of journalism I’ve seen this year, a piece by the normally reputable Peter Baker called "In Bush’s Final Year, The Agenda Gets Greener." Words can scarcely do it justice. A friend forwarded it in horror. If he’d said so, I […]

Bush beats Gore, again!

Until last week, this long-beloved annual tradition seemed to be a lock for one person -- Nobel laureate, itinerant educator, and media superstar Al Gore. Sadly, he only makes first runner-up this year. Like Time magazine, our Person of the Year is awarded to the person or group who "for better or for worse ... has done the most to influence the events of the year" in the climate arena.

By single-handedly stopping any international action on climate at Bali, by stopping California from regulating tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions, by forcing Congress to drop almost all non-oil-related provisions to cut GHGs from the energy bill -- all in one week! -- one man proved his unchallenged high-impact misleadership on the issue of the century: Dick Cheney George Bush.

U.S., avoiding action at current climate meeting, announces new climate meeting

President Bush has announced a climate-change meeting in Hawaii next month for 17 of the world’s major greenhouse-gas emitters to talk about setting goals for curbing emissions. The meeting is a follow-up to an anticlimactic summit that Bush hosted in late September. Oddly enough, during the pivotal climate-change meeting going on in Bali right this […]

Notable quotable

“Here is my guess, and I know that I’m right. I will bet my car, in fact. Bush will come out, this president when he leaves office, will come out in the next decade or so as a strong advocate on behalf of ending global warming. He will be … he will have an environmentally […]

Via Boucher, Bush signals willingness to sign onto (weak) mandatory carbon controls

According to E&E (sub. rqd), Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Coal) says President Bush would sign a climate bill with mandatory carbon controls as long as it was, well, toothless: A House Democrat writing legislation to require greenhouse gas limits said today that White House officials have privately indicated that President Bush might sign such a bill, […]

Notable quotable

“I’m interested in good policy. Kyoto, I thought, was bad policy.” — George W. Bush

Bush climate speech follows Luntz playbook

Bush has given us a new drinking game: Down a shot whenever the President uses the word "technology" in a climate speech. You'd get 19 shots for yesterday's 21 minute speech!

As predicted, Bush closely follows the Frank Luntz playbook on how to seem like you care about the climate when you don't. Bush stated the basic do-nothing message well:

Our investments in research and technology are bringing the world closer to a remarkable breakthrough -- an age of clean energy where we can power our growing economies and improve the lives of our people and be responsible stewards of the earth the Almighty trusted to our care.

Translation: "If we had those technologies today, then maybe we could take genuine action now. But, darn it, people, we don't. We can't grow the economy and be responsible stewards of the earth quite yet. We are close, though, so be patient already and stop with all those calls for mandatory regulation. Sheesh!"