Bush Versus G8 Climate Change

Today Bush said that action needs to be taken against the biggest greenhouse emitter…….hmmmm that would be us. I smell a rat. Bush doesn’t give in so let’s follow the path.

Bush announcement today: 

The US would also cut tariff barriers to sharing environmental technology, Mr Bush said. The president was speaking in Washington ahead of next week’s G8 summit in Germany, where climate change will be a major issue.

The US strategy calls for a consensus on long-term goals for reducing the greenhouse gases that lie behind global warming, but not before the end of 2008, the White House said.

“So my proposal is this: By the end of next year, America and other nations will set a long-term global goal for reducing greenhouse gases.”

Tony Blair immediately hailed Mr. Bush’s announcement as “a huge step forward”.

Of course Tony was thrilled; he has been hammering Bush on global warming for years. Bush even acknowledged their climate change discussion during their Rose Garden press conference on May17, 2007.  

And we talked, of course, about climate change. We spent a lot of time on climate change. And I agree with the Prime Minister, as I have stated publicly, this is a serious issue, and the United States takes it seriously, just like we take energy security seriously.

We talked about the upcoming G8, and I assured the Prime Minister we want to be a part of a solution, that we want to work constructively together. He’s got some really good ideas on how to advance the technologies that are going to be necessary to help solve this problem. And I told him I’ve got some good ideas as how to convince China and India to be a part of a global solution. We have a lot of common ground that we’ve been discussing today.

But wait, while Bush is again misleading with one hand the other hand is doing this:

“The treatment of climate change runs counter to our overall position and crosses multiple ‘red lines’ in terms of what we simply cannot agree to,” the U.S. comments continued.

“We have tried to ‘tread lightly’ but there is only so far we can go given our fundamental opposition to the German position.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, supported by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, wants agreement to curb the rise in average temperatures this century to 2°C, to cut global emissions by 50% below 1990 levels by 2050 and to raise energy efficiency in power and transport by 20% by 2020.

 

So which is it? Bush is going along or Bush is stamping his foot to get his way? I choose the latter. The change in Bush’s attitude is a mere distraction to the progress the other countries are making on climate change. Bush has no intention of making any commitments on global warming under his watch.    

I tend to agree with John Coequyt:

But John Coequyt, energy policy specialist for the advocacy group Greenpeace, said the administration is undermining progress on climate change by opposing Germany’s proposed declaration.

“The Bush administration is clearly ignoring the global scientific consensus as well the groundswell of concern about climate change in the United States,” Coequyt said. “The administration’s attempts to hold up any meaningful agreement at the G-8 summit in June are criminal, but not unexpected.”

Homeland Security Border Failure

In a follow up to BossKitty’s post How Irresponsible! How Selfish! How Prepared? , it should not shock any of us that Homeland Security once again failed.

According to CNN, Mr. TB is Andrew Speaker a 31 year old attorney, whose father-in-law works for the CDC on TB research.

The man has been identified by multiple medical and law enforcement sources as Andrew Speaker, 31, a lawyer from Atlanta, Georgia. Hospital officials have not disclosed his name.

Speaker’s father-in-law works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, an agency spokesman said Thursday.

The father-in-law, Robert C. Cooksey, is a microbiologist who has conducted research on tuberculosis for the National Center for Infectious Diseases, according to a CDC biography posted on the agency’s Web site.

Mr. Speaker was put on a no fly order list, but he still managed to fly to Europe. How is it that you get on a list but you can cross the border and fly out? Now because of the complete incompetence of Homeland Security and the CDC there is a world wide alert.

When Mr. Speaker arrived at the U.S. Canadian border, Homeland Security employees checked his passport and let him into the U.S. even though alarms went off regarding his condition. Obviously Homeland Security employees are allowed to make judgment calls instead of procedural requirements.

The CDC had alerted Customs and Border Protection authorities about the man on May 22, noting that they anticipated he might board his scheduled June 5 flight into Atlanta, the official said. Instead, Speaker took a Czech Air flight from Prague to Montreal, along with 199 other passengers and crew members, and then drove into the United States.

But the CBP also put the information out to all ports of entry, which is “routine practice,” according to the official.

Speaker’s passport was checked at the Champlain, New York, border crossing, and although it triggered an alert on the Customs and Border Protection computer system, he was still allowed in the country, a Homeland Security official told CNN.

The CBP agent who processed his entry on May 24 has been placed on administrative duties while the investigation is continuing, the official said.

Obviously Homeland Security is not any more prepared then they were for Katrina. How can we trust them to protect us from germ warfare or another attack if their employees are allowed to make judgment calls on an individual? While Bush and the GOP are so concerned that the enemy will follow us home, the events of Mr. Speaker shows everyone that our security is poor, subjective and porous. Heck of a job Chertoff.