Too Hot?

once again from Froomkin column @ Washington Post

Climate Change Watch
Mary Jordan writes in The Washington Post: "Former vice president Al Gore, accepting his Nobel Peace Prize on Monday, called on the United States and China, the world's two largest polluters, 'to make the boldest moves' on climate change 'or stand accountable before history for their failure to act.' . . .
"In an interview before the ceremony, Gore criticized the Bush administration's stance on climate change. He said he believed the next U.S. president -- regardless of who it is -- would address the matter more urgently.
"'I think it is unfortunate that our nation, which should be the natural leader of the world community, has been the principal obstacle to progress in solving the climate crisis,' Gore said.
"Asked whether his life as the world's climate-change ambassador had turned out better than if he had become president, he said: 'I am under no illusion that there is any position with as much ability to influence the future than that of the president of the United States,' he said. 'But that was not to be.'"
Erika Bolstad and Lesley Clark write for McClatchy Newspapers: "The White House censored climate scientists and edited their testimony on global warming before Congress, Democrats charged Monday after a 16-month investigation into allegations of political interference with scientific inquiries.
"The Bush administration was 'particularly active in stifling discussions' of a potential link between climate change and the intensity of hurricanes, according to the findings in a draft report issued Monday by Democrats on the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee."
Deborah Zabarenko writes for Reuters: "Congressional Republicans released their own report, calling the accusations 'a partisan diatribe,' while White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the Democrats' charges were rehashed and untrue, and timed to coincide with the Bali conference."
The committee report states that "the Bush Administration has engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate climate change science and mislead policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming. . . .
"In 1998, the American Petroleum Institute developed an internal 'Communications Action Plan' that stated: 'Victory will be achieved when . . . average citizens "understand" uncertainties in climate science . . . [and] recognition of uncertainties becomes part of the "conventional wisdom."' The Bush Administration has acted as if the oil industry's communications plan were its mission statement."