WH Admits Global Warming Is a Fact, and Greenhouse Gases Caused by People

[Time for change]

As a federal employee who works for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), I periodically receive notices by e-mail from that Department. Recently I received an e-mail from them entitled “HHS celebrates Earth Day”.

Here is the 7th paragraph of that HHS e-mail, in which I have bolded the surprising Bush administration admission and italicized the qualifying phrases:

The White House's Council on Environmental Quality is working on climate change policies that will help our economy grow as well as improve our environment. There is no debating the fact that the surface of the earth is warmer and that people are causing an increase in greenhouse gases. By supporting environmental technological innovation, President Bush aims to address climate change, to reduce harmful air pollution, and to improve U.S. energy security.

Previous to this, I had neither seen nor heard the Bush administration give any credence to the importance of global warming since Bush’s campaign promises of 2000.

Since then, Bush pulled the U.S. out of the Kyoto Protocol as one of the first acts of his Presidency, and he has repeatedly questioned the science behind global warming. The Kyoto Protocol was signed in February 2005 by 141 nations, including every developed industrial nation in the world, with the exception of Australia and the U.S., despite the fact that the U.S. is by far the largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world.

Bush has even tried to silence Dr. James Hansen, the top climate scientist at NASA, on this issue, following Dr. Hansen’s December 2005 lecture calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases in order to reduce global warming. Dr. Hansen also said that the leadership and participation of the United States in the effort to reduce global warming is needed in order to prevent permanent damage to our planet:

The fresh efforts to quiet him, Dr. Hansen said, began in a series of calls after a lecture he gave on Dec. 6 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. In the talk, he said that significant emission cuts could be achieved with existing technologies, particularly in the case of motor vehicles, and that without leadership by the United States, climate change would eventually leave the earth "a different planet."

In fact, so egregious has been the Bush administration’s refusal to budge on this issue that the “International Commission of Inquiry On Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration” conducted hearings into it in January 2006, based on the following charges:

The Bush administration has consistently denied the scientific consensus around global warming and its causes. Administration officials have misrepresented, distorted, and suppressed scientific information on the subject, especially as it would impact public opinion.

The Bush administration has refused to take any measures to curb the emissions of greenhouse gases, guided by narrow corporate interests. It has withdrawn from any international efforts that would impose binding restrictions, however minimal. It has done this with full knowledge of the catastrophic effects of global warming and the disproportionate U.S. share of world greenhouse gas emissions, the leading cause of global warming.

So, this begs the question of why the Bush administration is now apparently admitting that global warming poses a substantial problem.

The e-mail I received that admitted the significance of global warming was addressed mainly to HHS scientists, who are notorious adherents of science. Chances are, therefore, that few if any of them would have been impressed with a statement from the White House that denied the significance of global warming. And the e-mail was sent out on Earth Day, after all! So perhaps the Bush administration simply feels that its admission won’t come to the attention of typical Bush voters, who tend to see things less like HHS scientists and more like that arch-conservative, Stephen Colbert, who said at the recent White House Correspondence dinner, in admiration of our great pResident’s disdain for books: “I’ve never been a fan of books. I don’t trust them. They're all fact, no heart. I mean, they're elitist, telling us what is or isn't true, or what did or didn't happen.”

So, is this just another instance of the Bush administration tailoring its message to its audience? Or, does it simply feel that the qualifying phrases “is working on” and “aims to address” allow enough wiggle room to avoid taking any substantive action? Or, is it feeling pressured on this subject by ex-President …. I mean, Vice President Al Gore’s recent book? Or, is it actually having a change of mind on this subject? :sarcasm:

[warrens]

1. That emailer is headed for Palookaville

The very instant one of Smirky's awl bidness buddies reads that.

[Time for change]

20. I think the e-mail went out with White House approval

It's a way of acknowledging the presence of global warming -- because they have little choice in the matter at this point -- and at the same time pretending that some progress is being made towards dealing with it, without actually intending to do anything about it.

They need to be confronted about this more by our news media and by our Congress.

[Deja Q]

2. PEOPLE? Or what people do?

And is this just a gaffe, a hint, or a hint that was meant to not be said?

[corkhead]

7. I'm surprised he didn't say it's caused by farts of the baby Jesus

[Time for change]

14. I am presuming that the statement is meant to refer to what people do

In other words, I am presuming that the statement that I bolded in my OP is accurate -- which is what surprised me about it.

And no, I don't believe it was a gaffe -- it was a very carefully prepared e-mail.

Here's the way I see it (and I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear enough in my OP, with my attempt at sarcasm):

It was Earth Day, and so the Department of HHS had to put out an earth friendly message to HHS employees. A very large number of HHS employees are scientists. Given Bush's contempt for science, including the issue of climate change, his approval among HHS employees is much lower than it is with the general population.

So, I see this as an attempt by the Bush administration to curry some favor among government employees in general, and HHS employees in particular. To the general public his stance towards global warming has been as I depicted it in the OP. Attempts to do something about global warming would mean various regulations (such as requirements for greater fuel economy of our cars) which are not what Bush's wealthy contributors had in mind when they supported his bid for the Presidency. And since showing loyalty to his wealthy contributers is what this administration is all about, Bush has had to down play global warming.

So, the idea was to give some backhanded recognition to the importance of global warming in the message to HHS scientists, while hoping that that message wouldn't be heard by the general public -- or if it was heard, that people wouldn't put two and two together by recognizing that while he finally is giving some lip service to global warming, he still isn't doing anything about it.

[Jim__]

3. They still don't acknowledge that Global Warming is being caused

by this increase in greenhouse gases caused by people.

[Time for change]

16. Hmmm, I think I see what you mean

It seemed to me that the statement in the HHS e-mail admitted the causal link, but you're right that it doesn't actually go all the way towards saying that.

But on the other hand, this article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/science/03climate.html?ei=5094&en=ccbe84a5b4e80ab6&hp=&ex=1146715200&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1146697724-HBQvtb7MaQmT2vta/J4OLw

which just came out today, says:
"clear evidence of human influences on the climate system."

And yet, despite these admissions, if you look at the whole article (see my comments in post # 15), they are still saying that they don't need to do anything about it.

[izzie]

4. I just do not believe a thing he will say. Right now he is vote hunting

for the Congress.

[Robbien]

5. This trend has me worried

The MSM has also been talking about global warming without their usual "some people say" caveat.

These corporate interests do nothing without an underlying corrupt intent. It is difficult to figure out what that intent is though. Where is the profit in it for them?

[Time for change]

17. Maybe the evidence has become so overwhelming that they have no choice

but to admit it.

See posts 11 and 15.

[bloom]

6. It would interesting to see what O'Reilly/ Limbaugh, etc.

have to say about the subject.


Recently George Will was saying global warming is a myth and there is this from a month ago:

Steve Forbes Claims Global Warming Is a Myth
Reported by Marie Therese - April 04, 2006
Last Saturday morning, Steve Forbes said this about global warming: "There are no real facts to back it up.

http://www.newshounds.us/2006/04/04/steve_forbes_claims_global_warming_is_a_myth.php



In February:

In a First, Fox Trashes Evangelical Christians...Who Believe in Global Warming
Reported by Melanie - February 09, 2006

http://www.newshounds.us/2006/02/09/in_a_first_fox_trashes_evangelical_christianswho_believe_in_global_warming.php


But Apparently - FOX has not been consistent:

FOX Flip Flops On Global Warming
Reported by Deborah - November 10, 2005
Are the winds shifting ever so slightly to the left on FNC ? How else to explain the sudden flip flopping on Fox on the subject of global warming an issue that has been either ignored, ridiculed or contested rigorously by the network. On Sunday, 11/13/05, FOX News will air a special,The Heat Is On: A Case For Global Warming with Rick Folbaum.

http://www.newshounds.us/2005/11/10/fox_flip_flops_on_global_warming.php

[recoveringdittohed]

13. Limbaugh denys global warming/O'Reilly accepts it as a fact

I used to listen to Rush frequently and have heard him mock global warming saying that man cannot harm the earth stating the nuking of Japan in World War II shows that man cannot harm earth.

(Donning flame resistant suit)

O'Reilly has as best I can recall (& by information obtained from a google search) has consistently acknowledged global warming and on June 19, 2003 he criticized the * Administration for suppressing scientific findings in support of Global warming. One conservative website blasted O'Reilly for being "closer to Al Gore than * on global warming." So at least on this issue blowhard O'Reilly while a source of global warming (hot air)has been an environmentalist.

[Time for change]

21. So, did you use to find Rush to be presuasive?

[recoveringdittohed]

23. At times, yes

I first heard Rush's program (about a year before it got on the air here in Cincinnati) when I was traveling on vacation at the time of the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearing. Looking back I would say that where Rush presented "facts" repeatedly and they were not forcefully disproved, those "facts" became facts. It seems to me that at first he was at times humorous, entertaining and I perceived him to be more Main Street than Wall Street.

Now I can't stand listening to him for more than a few minutes and I suspect both I have changed and I think Rush's program has changed. He seems to be on more of a diatribe now. It seems to me that even when he uses humor now it is a not funny mean spirited humor.

[cascadiance]

8. Hmm... I guess the latest way to equivalence corporation=person!

So if you accept their mantra of corporate personhood, then he's not stretching the truth! :eyes:

[Canuckistanian]

9. See? It's PEOPLE. Not oil companies.

Now, all we have to do is find those people and smoke 'em out....

[ComerPerro]

10. would that, then, be considered a flip-flop?

[Time for change]

18. Damn right

For years he says that there is no scientific proof of global warming, and now that even the most skeptical scientists are saying that there is, he is admitting that much, but now the line is that there is no need to do anything about it. So he'll just keep "monitoring" it (See posts 11 and 15).

If we had a decent press corps, this would be a major national scandal.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. They're having to admit it now

This report came out in the last 24 hours or so:

A scientific study commissioned by the Bush administration concluded yesterday that the lower atmosphere was indeed growing warmer and that there was "clear evidence of human influences on the climate system."
...
The new study found that "there is no longer a discrepancy in the rate of global average temperature increase for the surface compared with higher levels in the atmosphere," in the words of a news release issued by the Commerce Department and approved by the White House. The report was published yesterday online at climatescience.gov.

The report's authors all agreed that their review of the data showed that the atmosphere was, in fact, warming in ways that generally meshed with computer simulations. The study said that the only factor that could explain the measured warming of Earth's average temperature over the last 50 years was the buildup heat-trapping gases, which are mainly emitted by burning coal and oil.
...
John R. Christy, an author of the new report whose analysis of satellite temperature records long showed little warming above Earth's surface, said he endorsed the conclusion that "part of what has happened over the last 50 years has clearly been caused by humans."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/science/03climate.html?ei=5094&en=ccbe84a5b4e80ab6&hp=&ex=1146715200&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1146697724-HBQvtb7MaQmT2vta/J4OLw

It's significant that Christy fully accepts the daat shows warming, since it's his work on satellite meaurements that has been cited as throwing doubt on how much warming has already occurred. The Bush regime is still dragging its feet ("But White House officials noted that this was just the first of 21 assessments ..."), but this really means all the reputable scientists now agree warming is happening, and a significant part is caused by us.

[Time for change]

15. Wow, I'm amazed

I thought that they were intent on keeping this message confined to government employees, and away from the general public, but it appears now that the amassed evidence is now too great for even Bush to ignore completely.

Still, these sections from the article you cited are so typical:

The officials said that while the new finding was important, the administration's policy remained focused on studying the remaining questions and using voluntary means to slow the growth in emissions of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide.

In other words, they're still not ready to do anything about it.

And:

Michele St. Martin, a spokeswoman for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said, "We welcome today's report" and added that it showed that President Bush's decision to focus nearly $2 billion a year on climate monitoring and research was "working."

In other words, as long as they continue to monitor it, there's no need to do anything about it.

[Jack Rabbit]

12. The junta "solution" will remain the same

Voluntary guidelines. Wow. Real tough and hard hitting.

[Time for change]

19. Yes, it's really disturbing

Now that they finally admit that global warming is real, they don't think it's necessary to do much of anything about it.

According to this article, they are saying that the best thing to do is to adjust to the consequences of global warming rather than try hard to reduce it:

http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/science/03climate.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26eiQ3D5094Q26enQ3Dccbe84a5b4e80ab6Q26hpQ3DQ26exQ3D1146715200Q26adxnnlQ3D1Q26partnerQ3DhomepageQ26adxnnlxQ3D1146697724-HBQ51vtb7MaQ51mT2vtaQ2FJ4OLw&OP=714be5a3Q2FhoZQ5BhvR1mLRR8Q51hQ51Q27Q27DhQ27ShQ27Q20hm1pZP1ZhQ27Q201KpdC8Z(E8dK

Yet nothing is said about the fact that the consequence include severe flooding of coastal cities all over the world.

[Pierre Trudeau]

22. maybe someone figured out...

... how to make some money off global warming.

So, presto! Suddenly, it's "true".

That's the way it usually happens. I can't wait to see what "climate change" gear they'll try to sell us.