Bush sorta unveils new greenhouse gas plan, critics say it's "worse than doing nothing"
Photo: Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images
Now we know a bit more about the White House's U-Turn on global warming. President Bush made a speech in the Rose Garden today calling for a stop to greenhouse gas emissions growth in the U.S. by 2025. As NPR phrased it, that's when babies born this year will be in high school.
As we heard earlier this week, the White House is afraid that changes to the status quo that might come about thanks to things like the legal challenges about the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gases could result in a regulatory trainwreck on greenhouse gas issues. Bush said today that he was concerned that legislation that Congress is looking to pass could hurt economic growth. The President did not issue a lot of details about his cautious plan that is far weaker than European plans, but that didn't stop Democrats from saying it was too little, too late. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California) called it "worse than doing nothing ... the height of irresponsibility."
[Source: NPR]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Wise Golden 7:22PM (4/16/2008)
Sebastian – you might actually be the worst, most biased “quasi journalist” on Earth.
NPR doesn’t think Bush is doing enough. That’s like saying that the communist blamed America for the cold war. You need to put your obvious hate of President Bush aside and stop playing politics with every story that comes out. There is a whole lot of good that was announced today, and nobody will hear any of it from you – and sadly, some people will only get their news from people like you and NPR.
Worser than doing nothing...hell, I don't even think NPR would be that blind.
Reply
Wise Golden 7:24PM (4/16/2008)
And just because I said "worser" and I defended President Bush, don't think that I am him under a false name.
Reply
Cervus 7:42PM (4/16/2008)
He'll be out of office in less than a year. Chill.
Reply
retro77 7:46PM (4/16/2008)
I'd say something is better than nothing.
Reply
Dan 7:51PM (4/16/2008)
Not if it locks in energy policy and preempts stronger action, e.g. California's CO2 limits.
Reply
david 10:45PM (4/16/2008)
Golden,
Why are you so scared of someone interjecting their personal beliefs into a blog. Last time I checked we had this thing called freedom of speech. If you don't care about his opinion then don't read his blogs. Go read Fox News, I'm sure their unbiased opinion has something fantastic to say about GW's new ideas.
Reply
Mark 9:55PM (4/16/2008)
Bush's speeches about reducing greenhouse gases are a disguise. He packages policies and words it in a way that will SOUND good, but will ONLY benefit his OPEC bedmates.
Reply
Joseph 11:36PM (4/16/2008)
Well, I'm not a Bush-basher, but it kind of is a lame plan.
It would be pretty good if it was actually followed, but seeing what happened in California with the ZEV mandate, that isn't for certain.
I hope since it is the U.S. Federal Government itself, one of the richest powers in the world, that it will actually be enforced strictly. It would probably be a pretty good, realistic plan that would begin a domino effect in all out industries. But all of this if it was followed. The law is there for a reason!
Reply
Wise Golden 10:31PM (4/16/2008)
Mark, Bush is a true environmentalist in his personal life and has done more for the environment than any President in history. When you talk about a person who says things to sound good, but actually doesn’t follow through in his personal life, then you must mean someone else who owns several homes and jets around the world. If you put your politics aside and look at the objective truth, you’ll discover that Bush is an environmentalist and a friend.
Reply
meme 11:34PM (4/16/2008)
"Mark, Bush is a true environmentalist in his personal life and has done more for the environment than any President in history."
So wonderful have his environmental policies been, like his Healthy Forests Initiative that let more forests get cut down and his Clean Skies act that increases the amount of pollutants companies can commit, that the Sierra Club has given him utterly atrocious marks.
No, my mistake. The Sierra Club is a pink-commie America-hating organization who has the goal of destroying capitalism, not an environmental group. My bad.
Reply
texmln 12:46AM (4/17/2008)
A phony plan for a phony problem. What did you expect?
Reply
Lad 1:38AM (4/17/2008)
Bush Basher here; how about this one?
When Bush speaks I always ask the question: “What’s in it for him and them?”
After seven years of nothing but costly errors and mistakes, I guess it’s safe for him to sing an mildly enviornmental kind of song (words and music by Karl Rove) when you intend to leave all the messes for the next President to clean up anyway.
Reply
BlackbirdHighway 8:20AM (4/17/2008)
Well, if someone had a drinking problem, and their plan was to increase their drinking for the next 17 years, then level off, I would not say that they were dealing with the problem.
Over the next two decades, the companies that lead the charge in developing new alternative energy and high efficiency technologies will be the new Intels, Microsofts, and Ciscos. These will be the high growth, extremely profitable, companies that will revitalize the economy while pushing the boundaries of technology.
I would like to see those companies right here in the US, but our policies as they stand are going to make sure those companies are located in places like Japan, South Korea, Europe, China and India.
The US lead in the Internet revolution, and the 90's were a boom time in America, when we felt like anything we wanted to do was possible.
If we don't lead the way in the new energy economy, we won't have another 90's, we will be stuck in another 70's, when America seemed to lose it's mojo, lost jobs, lost prestige, and lost its way.
Reply
Bman 8:47AM (4/17/2008)
"Bush is a true environmentalist in his personal life and has done more for the environment than any President in history... If you put your politics aside and look at the objective truth, you’ll discover that Bush is an environmentalist and a friend."
And i pray that this quote will exit my head.
Truly disgusting BS.
Reply
lunar E 10:06AM (4/17/2008)
This is classic government - when government does something it usually works out worse than doing nothing. Ethonal from corn comes to mind.
Reply
John Starnes 12:09PM (4/17/2008)
If George Bush actually cares about the planet,then Dick Cheney did not get 5 deferments and actually served in Vietnam and thus knows the horrors of war directly. This is all about "looking" like, 7 years late, Bush suddenly understands the environment is under assault by 6 billion (and growing) humans...hey, that "legacy" is what counts most to this incompetent unelected joke of a president.
Reply
goehring 11:49AM (4/17/2008)
"When you talk about a person who says things to sound good, but actually doesn’t follow through in his personal life, then you must mean someone else who owns several homes and jets around the world."
John McCain? Although some might consider 8 homes to be more than several.
Reply
Whopper 12:36PM (4/17/2008)
"No, my mistake. The Sierra Club is a pink-commie America-hating organization who has the goal of destroying capitalism, not an environmental group. My bad."
No, The Sierra Club is a bunch of afluent nut jobs who think they know what is best for everyone.
Reply
Whopper 2:48PM (4/17/2008)
"I would like to see those companies right here in the US, but our policies as they stand are going to make sure those companies are located in places like Japan, South Korea, Europe, China and India."
Government policy in this country is and has been to permit our ability to manufacture to atrophe. The countries you mention have the wisdom to protect their key industries but we feel compelled to ship them ours. We will be left buying "stuff" manufactured offshore...I'm just not sure what we'll be employed at in order to afford to buy anything.
Reply