Bush on Global Warming: It's real

In an interview (May 13, 2008) with Politico's chief political correspondent, Michael Allen, President George W. Bush (again) conceded publicly that global warming is real and that has been clearly defined as a problem. At the same time, the President sought to frame the issue in terms of its economical repercussions, saying that "you can't have a solution to global warming unless China and India are part of any international pact."

During the interview, President Bush also said that he would consider enacting a "gas tax holiday" that has been a source of controversy in the 2008 presidential election. Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain supported suspension of the national gas tax during the summer months when demand for fuel peaks, while Senator Barack Obama denounced the plan as a political gimmick to shore up support. Environmentalists have argued that lowering the cost of fuel would encourage more driving, which in turn would produce more greenhouse gas emissions.

As long ago as 2002, Bush indicated that humans played a part in rising temperatures, spurring vitriolic denunciations from the far right among those who felt President Bush was selling out. But despite Bush's acknowledgment of the reality of anthropogenic climate change six years ago, the Bush administration maintained a policy of obfuscation and obscurantism where global warming was concerned.

The House of Representatives Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, in response to President Bush's talking points on climate change in 2007, noted that the Bush administration consistently denied the human component of climate change, deliberately suppressed the dissemination of scientific research on climate change, and dragged its feet in combating global warming.

For all the President's waffling on the issue of global warming, one thing is clear: the President acknowledges that climate change is real, that humans contribute to it, and that the United States should act to combat it when and if economic machines like China and India take steps to curtail greenhouse gas emissions. Even more illuminating is that while the Bush administration will act unilaterally for causes it deems right (witness the "Global War on Terror"), curtailing climate change clearly doesn't qualify as one of those causes, despite admissions of the real problem posed by global warming.


For the transcript of President Bush speaking with Politico's Mike Allen on climate change, click here.