Today is “Flood the Zone Friday”. For those of you interested in participating, this week’s topic is Bush’s horrible environmental record. For instructions and talking points, check out this post at NotGeniuses.

For what it’s worth, here’s my letter (which is adapted from this post) :

Bush’s Crappy Record on Global Warming

What the heck is it going to take to convince George W. Bush that global warming is a serious problem that needs to be addressed? In the spring of 2001, despite a report released by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that warned “emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols due to human activities continue to alter the atmosphere in ways that affect the climate system”, George Bush unveiled a global warming plan that shunned the Kyoto Treaty and called for more research. At the time, it was disappointing, but not entirely surprising. After all, this is what Bush had to say about global warming in the 2000 debates :

“I think it’s an issue that we need to take very seriously. But I don’t think we know the solution to global warming yet. And I don’t think we’ve got all the facts before we make decisions…What the heck. I — of course there’s a lot — look, global warming needs to be taken very seriously, and I take it seriously. But science, there’s a lot — there’s differing opinions. And before we react, I think it’s best to have the full accounting, full understanding of what’s taking place.”

So in June of 2002, when the Environmental Protection Agency delivered his report on global warming, the results once again weren’t to his liking. Fast forward to a year later, in June of 2003, the EPA released a comprehensive report on environmental problems that was two years in the making. In the final version of the report, the section on global warming was heavily trimmed in order to support the Bush Administration’s predetermined conclusions about climate change. As the New York Times reported :

“The editing eliminated references to many studies concluding that recent warming is at least partly caused by rising concentrations of smokestack and tailpipe emissions and could threaten health and ecosystems. Among the deletions were references to the conclusions of a 2001 report by the National Research Council that the White House had commissioned and that Bush had endorsed in speeches that year.”

So here we are now. It’s been almost three years since Bush pledged to get more information about the causes of global warming (despite the fact that the rest of the world has concluded for decades that human activity is the main cause). What’s the next step for Bush on the environment? More research! Just last month the Bush Administration proposed a ten year plan to study possible causes of global warming, despite the fact that every major scientific study has drawn the same conclusions! So, rather than distract us with the annual “We need more research” speech, they’re just going to embark on a 10-year project to study a phenomenon that we already understand. How many times does Bush need to be told the same conclusions before they sink into his head? Ten times? Twenty times?