Qtec
06-17-2005, 03:57 AM
Make your own mind up.
US scientists pile on pressure over climate change
David Adam, science correspondent
Wednesday June 8, 2005
The Guardian
US scientists have increased the pressure on George Bush and other world leaders to tackle climate change by signing a joint statement calling on G8 nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The statement, from the science academies of the G8 countries, says the scientific evidence on climate change is now clear enough to compel their leaders to take action.
It says: "There is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring. It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities...
"The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action. It is vital that all nations identify cost-effective steps that they can take now, to contribute to substantial and long-term reduction in net global greenhouse gas emissions."
The statement has been issued ahead of the G8 summit in Gleneagles in July. It follows months of negotiations between the UK's Royal Society, which published it yesterday, and the other academies.
One source close to the negotiations called the support of the US National Academy of Sciences "unprecedented".
Revealed: how oil giant influenced Bush
White House sought advice from Exxon on Kyoto stance
John Vidal, environment editor
Wednesday June 8, 2005
The Guardian
President's George Bush's decision not to sign the United States up to the Kyoto global warming treaty was partly a result of pressure from ExxonMobil, the world's most powerful oil company, and other industries, according to US State Department papers seen by the Guardian.
The documents, which emerged as Tony Blair visited the White House for discussions on climate change before next month's G8 meeting, reinforce widely-held suspicions of how close the company is to the administration and its role in helping to formulate US policy.
In briefing papers given before meetings to the US under-secretary of state, Paula Dobriansky, between 2001 and 2004, the administration is found thanking Exxon executives for the company's "active involvement" in helping to determine climate change policy, and also seeking its advice on what climate change policies the company might find acceptable.
Other papers suggest that Ms Dobriansky should sound out Exxon executives and other anti-Kyoto business groups on potential alternatives to Kyoto.
Until now Exxon has publicly maintained that it had no involvement in the US government's rejection of Kyoto. But the documents, obtained by Greenpeace under US freedom of information legislation, suggest this is not the case.
Ex-oil lobbyist watered down US climate research
Julian Borger in Washington
Thursday June 9, 2005
The Guardian
A former oil industry lobbyist edited the Bush administration's official policy papers on climate change to play down the link between greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, it was reported yesterday.
Documents released by a watchdog group, the Government Accountability Project, show that as chief of staff for the White House council on environmental quality, Philip Cooney watered down government scientific papers on climate change and played up uncertainties in the scientific literature. Mr Cooney is a law graduate and has no scientific training.
The Bush aide had performed a similar role in his previous job for the American Petroleum Institute, a lobby group representing oil giants and focused on countering the virtual consensus among scientists that man-made emissions are rapidly heating the planet.
"Cooney's still doing his old job for the American Petroleum Institute," said Kert Davies, the US research director for Greenpeace. "It's the American Petroleum Institute working within the White House."
The newly released documents, printed in the New York Times, show handwritten notes by Mr Cooney deleting paragraphs and editing others drafted by government scientists
Bush's climate row aide joins oil giant
Jamie Wilson in Washington
Thursday June 16, 2005
The Guardian
A senior White House official accused of doctoring government reports on climate change to play down the link between greenhouse gas emissions and global warming has taken a job with ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil company.
Philip Cooney, who resigned as chief of staff of the White House council on environment quality at the weekend, will begin work at the oil giant in the autumn.
Politicians and environmental groups in Washington condemned the move yesterday. "At a minimum it creates a terrible appearance," said Henry Waxman, a Democratic Congressman who sits on the committee for government reform. "This is one of the fastest revolving doors I have seen."
Kert Davies, the US research director for Greenpeace, said: "The cynical way to look at this is that ExxonMobil has removed its sleeper cell from the White House and extracted him back to the mother ship."
It emerged last week that Mr Cooney, who has a law degree and no scientific training, watered down scientific papers on climate change and played up uncertainties in the scientific literature.
PM urged to bypass Bush on climate change
Staff and agencies
Friday June 17, 2005
Guardian Unlimited
Tony Blair was today urged to break with George Bush over climate change as it emerged from leaked G8 papers that the US is unwilling to put its name to anything that says the world is getting hotter.
Details of a draft communique drawn up for the July 6-8 summit at Gleneagles suggest the world's leading industrial democracies have failed to agree on the most basic issues.
With Africa, the issue of climate change shares top billing on the prime minister's agenda for the Perthshire summit, but the US is proving intransigent over global warming. Alone among the G8, Washington has refused to sign the Kyoto agreement on cutting carbon emissions.
The former environment minister Michael Meacher said it was "extraordinary" that doubt was being cast on the idea that the world was getting hotter.
"I think the problem here is that Europe, and perhaps the United Kingdom, have been far too willing to go along with the kind of draft the Americans want, which is totally inexplicit and which is going to allow them to continue their economic activities," he said.
A first draft of the communique - leaked last month - disappointed environmentalists because it contained no targets or deadlines to build on the Kyoto cuts in emissions or to develop alternative power sources.
The latest document - dated June 14 and seen by Channel 4 News - suggests negotiations since then have resulted in some of the document's most basic assumptions being called into question.
I think this is just too important an issue to let the oil companies decide.
Q
US scientists pile on pressure over climate change
David Adam, science correspondent
Wednesday June 8, 2005
The Guardian
US scientists have increased the pressure on George Bush and other world leaders to tackle climate change by signing a joint statement calling on G8 nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The statement, from the science academies of the G8 countries, says the scientific evidence on climate change is now clear enough to compel their leaders to take action.
It says: "There is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring. It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities...
"The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action. It is vital that all nations identify cost-effective steps that they can take now, to contribute to substantial and long-term reduction in net global greenhouse gas emissions."
The statement has been issued ahead of the G8 summit in Gleneagles in July. It follows months of negotiations between the UK's Royal Society, which published it yesterday, and the other academies.
One source close to the negotiations called the support of the US National Academy of Sciences "unprecedented".
Revealed: how oil giant influenced Bush
White House sought advice from Exxon on Kyoto stance
John Vidal, environment editor
Wednesday June 8, 2005
The Guardian
President's George Bush's decision not to sign the United States up to the Kyoto global warming treaty was partly a result of pressure from ExxonMobil, the world's most powerful oil company, and other industries, according to US State Department papers seen by the Guardian.
The documents, which emerged as Tony Blair visited the White House for discussions on climate change before next month's G8 meeting, reinforce widely-held suspicions of how close the company is to the administration and its role in helping to formulate US policy.
In briefing papers given before meetings to the US under-secretary of state, Paula Dobriansky, between 2001 and 2004, the administration is found thanking Exxon executives for the company's "active involvement" in helping to determine climate change policy, and also seeking its advice on what climate change policies the company might find acceptable.
Other papers suggest that Ms Dobriansky should sound out Exxon executives and other anti-Kyoto business groups on potential alternatives to Kyoto.
Until now Exxon has publicly maintained that it had no involvement in the US government's rejection of Kyoto. But the documents, obtained by Greenpeace under US freedom of information legislation, suggest this is not the case.
Ex-oil lobbyist watered down US climate research
Julian Borger in Washington
Thursday June 9, 2005
The Guardian
A former oil industry lobbyist edited the Bush administration's official policy papers on climate change to play down the link between greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, it was reported yesterday.
Documents released by a watchdog group, the Government Accountability Project, show that as chief of staff for the White House council on environmental quality, Philip Cooney watered down government scientific papers on climate change and played up uncertainties in the scientific literature. Mr Cooney is a law graduate and has no scientific training.
The Bush aide had performed a similar role in his previous job for the American Petroleum Institute, a lobby group representing oil giants and focused on countering the virtual consensus among scientists that man-made emissions are rapidly heating the planet.
"Cooney's still doing his old job for the American Petroleum Institute," said Kert Davies, the US research director for Greenpeace. "It's the American Petroleum Institute working within the White House."
The newly released documents, printed in the New York Times, show handwritten notes by Mr Cooney deleting paragraphs and editing others drafted by government scientists
Bush's climate row aide joins oil giant
Jamie Wilson in Washington
Thursday June 16, 2005
The Guardian
A senior White House official accused of doctoring government reports on climate change to play down the link between greenhouse gas emissions and global warming has taken a job with ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil company.
Philip Cooney, who resigned as chief of staff of the White House council on environment quality at the weekend, will begin work at the oil giant in the autumn.
Politicians and environmental groups in Washington condemned the move yesterday. "At a minimum it creates a terrible appearance," said Henry Waxman, a Democratic Congressman who sits on the committee for government reform. "This is one of the fastest revolving doors I have seen."
Kert Davies, the US research director for Greenpeace, said: "The cynical way to look at this is that ExxonMobil has removed its sleeper cell from the White House and extracted him back to the mother ship."
It emerged last week that Mr Cooney, who has a law degree and no scientific training, watered down scientific papers on climate change and played up uncertainties in the scientific literature.
PM urged to bypass Bush on climate change
Staff and agencies
Friday June 17, 2005
Guardian Unlimited
Tony Blair was today urged to break with George Bush over climate change as it emerged from leaked G8 papers that the US is unwilling to put its name to anything that says the world is getting hotter.
Details of a draft communique drawn up for the July 6-8 summit at Gleneagles suggest the world's leading industrial democracies have failed to agree on the most basic issues.
With Africa, the issue of climate change shares top billing on the prime minister's agenda for the Perthshire summit, but the US is proving intransigent over global warming. Alone among the G8, Washington has refused to sign the Kyoto agreement on cutting carbon emissions.
The former environment minister Michael Meacher said it was "extraordinary" that doubt was being cast on the idea that the world was getting hotter.
"I think the problem here is that Europe, and perhaps the United Kingdom, have been far too willing to go along with the kind of draft the Americans want, which is totally inexplicit and which is going to allow them to continue their economic activities," he said.
A first draft of the communique - leaked last month - disappointed environmentalists because it contained no targets or deadlines to build on the Kyoto cuts in emissions or to develop alternative power sources.
The latest document - dated June 14 and seen by Channel 4 News - suggests negotiations since then have resulted in some of the document's most basic assumptions being called into question.
I think this is just too important an issue to let the oil companies decide.
Q