Some White House whoppers are so spectacular, so jaw-dropping, so breathtaking, that it’s genuinely hard to believe. For example, today, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow told reporters that “contrary to stereotype,” President Bush has been “actively engaged in trying to fight climate change.” (It’s true, TP has the video.)
When a reporter noted that leaders around the world believe a global mandatory emissions cap and trade program could play a key role in confronting the problem, Snow responded, “Well, what the United States has done is we have actually taken the lead on those kinds of innovations.”
Think Progress did a little fact checking.
President Bush has taken very little real action to fight climate change and even refuses to admit that it is manmade. He broke his promise to cap carbon emissions and insists that global warming can be fought through individual “voluntary” programs.
Despite being the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States has refused to participate in the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement that assigns mandatory targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases. Between 1990 and 2004, emissions of all industrialized countries decreased by 3.3 percent, but in U.S. emissions grew by almost 16 percent in that same period and now accounts for approximately two-fifths of the industrialized world’s greenhouse gases.
If the Bush administration has “taken the lead,” it’s no wonder we’re not making any progress.
Indeed, if Bush is “leading,” it’s worth noting that no one is following.
A Washington Post editorial…states, “After the coming election, President Bush is likely to face a Congress more apt than the current one to take strong action on climate change. He will then face a fateful choice: Does he want to spend his final two years in office blocking action and pretending that voluntary curbs on greenhouse gases will solve the problem of global warming, or does he want to help shape solutions? … Will he take a hand in developing America’s response to this global problem, or will he go down as the president who fiddled while Greenland melted?”
The world’s climate negotiators aren’t holding out much hope for the Bush administration; instead, they’re waiting for a U.S. regime change in 2008. “A new administration will have a different policy on the matter,” said Matthias Duwe of the Belgium-based Climate Action Network Europe. “I would imagine [U.S. involvement] would take place after the next presidential election,” said Michael Zammit Cutajar of Malta.
For its part, the administration’s most recent action on global warming has consisted of unveiling a new website on climate change. In the press release announcing the website, the Environmental Protection Agency underscores the administration’s position that the responsibility for curbing greenhouse gases lies with individuals, not the government. “The United States is working aggressively to address climate change through voluntary programs, but there are many cost-effective ways for individuals and organizations to take action,” reads the statement.
Someday, someone is going to have to explain to me how Tony Snow gets through these briefings without laughing at his own nonsense. It’s quite a skill.