In an article in today’s WaPo, Bush science advisor John H. Marburger III:
The president’s top science adviser said yesterday there is no solid scientific evidence that the widely cited goal of limiting future global temperature rises to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is necessary to avert dangerous climate change, an assertion that runs counter to that of many scientists as well as the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
John H. Marburger III, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said at a news conference that the target of preventing Earth from warming more than two degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, “is going to be a very difficult one to achieve and is not actually linked to regional events that affect people’s lives.”
OK, so far, understandable. Especially since Bush’s top science guru, quoted in a 2001 interview by Chemical and Engineering News, had this to say:
…the Administration received a lot of criticism for how it presented its position on the Kyoto protocol–which was a deeply flawed protocol and one that most people agree would have very serious negative economic consequences for the U.S….
The Bush administration firmly believes that following the Kyoto protocals would have damaged the US Economy. (Which is why our economy is so strong now….???)
Nothing to see here, no earth shaking news. Kool-aid drinkers abound within the White House sphere of influence, and anything that might possibly hurt industry is BAD, I tell you! BAD!!!