Gov. Blanco's Science Advisor Slams Bush On Climate Policies

[hatrack]

A senior environmental official in the southern United States has attacked the Bush administration for its policies on global warming. Two months after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the coastal science adviser to the governor of Louisiana says the US Government is missing a huge opportunity to develop new, cleaner technologies.

Louisiana has barely started the process of repairing the massive damage caused by Katrina and the tidal surges which overwhelmed the defences of New Orleans and the surrounding communities.

Len Bahr, the official who has been advising the Louisiana Governor on restoring lost wetlands along the coast, told the BBC that his state was the poster child for global warming. Pointing to recent research linking more intense hurricanes with warmer sea water, he said it would be naive to see Katrina as just a fluke.

But the US Undersecretary for Commerce, Oceans and Atmosphere, Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, has defended the administration's environment policy. "You have to remember that the United States has the most robust energy technology programs of the world, and climate science programs," he said.

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1493707.htm