Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Bush acknowledges global warming in state union speech

While President Bush admits to global climate changes, we're wondering, did he actually admit man's impact on the climate in the form of global warming is so great, so massive, that he agreed to more stringent (Kyoto Treaty-like) caps on carbon dioxide (CO2)??

Doesn't look like it...

Meanwhile, as he spoke, those parts of the country that usually get snowfalls, well, they still get the snowfalls... in Winter, like usual.

One woman in Alaska of all places is quoted as saying:

"I've lived in Alaska since 1967 and I don't remember ever having this much snow before," Elliston said.

Of course, we all want the smog, the pollution, the gritty, dirty air to go away. Now. Not with some sort of gimmick like cap-and-trade emissions.

http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/catalyst/page.jsp?itemID=27226959 virtual trading. That's sick. That's the game that's being played on the uneducated public. Somebody should come out with a board game about it all.

Bush Pursues Energy Initiatives While Congress Debates Iraq
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Fox News


...Bush emphasized several energy initiatives in his State of the Union address, acknowledging global climate change and asking Congress to help the United States break its oil addiction by enacting an initiative that would cut U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent in the next 10 years. To reach that goal, Bush called for setting a mandatory fuel standard for alternative and renewable gases to 35 billion gallons by 2017, nearly five times the current target.

Ethanol is already in use in retail gasoline. However, the president's new fuel standards would not be limited to ethanol use.

"We need to press on with battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles and expand the use of clean diesel vehicles and biodiesel fuel. We must continue investing in new methods of producing ethanol — using everything from wood chips, to grasses, to agricultural wastes," Bush said in his sixth annual joint session to Congress.

In Delaware, Bush urged the use of clean coal technology. Before departing on the trip, he signed an executive order that aims to increase the use of alternative fuels through development of more hybrid vehicles; reduce federal petroleum consumption in fleet vehicles by 2 percent a year through 2015; reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing energy intensity -- or the consumption of energy per demand for services -- by 3 percent each year over the next nine years.

Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Joel Kaplan said Tuesday that the government has spent $12 billion so far this budget year on advanced energy technologies. Much of government spending has been in conjunction with the private sector. Kaplan said Bush has stepped up his goal of increasing corn and cellulosic ethanol use because of private sector developments.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,246224,00.html

CN American Morning
State of the Union: How did the President do?; Global Climate Change
Aired January 24, 2007 - 06:00 ET


...S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning on AMERICAN MORNING, a closer look at President Bush's big ideas, including what we were just talking about a moment ago, his plan for health insurance, what it could cost you, what it could save you, how it could help you. All ahead.

Plus, another reality check. Is America ready to ease off gas and really do something about global warming?

We'll take a look at all of those issues straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

The most news on the morning is right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's 45 minutes past the hour. Chad Myers, at the CNN weather center, has the traveler's forecast for you.

Cold.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: A fact check now. The president is pushing his energy plan today in Wilmington, Delaware. During the speech last night, he once again called for more conservation in this country, something he did last year as well. Remember he said we were addicted to oil? But this time, there was an important difference.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN (voice over): The president uttered three words that he's never said before in a State of the Union Address: global climate change.

BUSH: America's on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil, and these technologies will help us be better stewards of the environment, and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change.

(APPLAUSE)

M. O'BRIEN: The president is once again pushing for alternative fuels and better mileage for cars and trucks. The goal, to reduce U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent in the next decade.

So why bring up climate change now? It may be the president finds himself in a new political climate with a growing number of legislators clamoring for a change in direction on global warming. But change was not in the offing Tuesday night.

Most climate experts say any effective policy to combat global warming must also include mandatory limits or caps on how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases power plants and other industries are permitted to pump into the air. And critics say the Bush policy, which continues to rely on voluntary measures, is essentially toothless. GENE KARPINSKI, LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS: If we're serious about the problem on global warming, which, as we all know, is the most and important environmental challenge we face, we really need mandatory caps on global warming pollution.

M. O'BRIEN: Bush's remarks were a small concession to what an overwhelming majority of climate scientists believe is a huge problem. They say in the coming decades, climate change will melt glaciers, flooding coastal areas as sea levels rise. It will unlikely increase the frequency of extreme weather events like catastrophic hurricanes. And it could lead to an entire species going extinct, such as polar bears, which are already struggling as their Arctic habitat melts.

It is a grim picture which many scientists believe requires more drastic action than the president has proposed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: One week from Friday, hundreds of the world's leading scientists will release their latest status report on global warming in Paris. We're told it paints a stark picture and that we are drastically changing our climate and the consequences are grave. As one scientist put it, the smoking gun is on the table...


http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/24/ltm.02.html

Meanwhile

Massive snowfall causes city to shrink
by Rebecca Palsha
Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007

Anchorage, Alaska - Anchorage has been hit with more than 74 inches of snow this season, and according to the city, it's reaching a crisis level, with snow removal on the streets becoming a big problem.

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