Energy Dept. Contradicts EPA Claim Of Bush Climate Plan Success

By Cernig

Someone didn't get the memo saying that all Bush administration statements should "stay the course" on global warming. The EPA is on message:

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday the growth of greenhouse gases by less than 1 percent in 2005 shows the administration's program to address global warming ``is delivering real results.''

The pronouncement by EPA Administrator Dave Johnson brought a quick response from some environmentalists.

``Things have come to a pretty sad state of affairs when the EPA tries to spin increased greenhouse gas emissions as a victory,'' said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, an environmental advocacy group.

The EPA said its annual greenhouse gas assessment showed that 7.26 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases were released by U.S. sources in 2005, an increase of 0.8 percent from the previous year.

``The Bush administration's unparalleled financial, international and domestic commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions is delivering real results,'' Johnson proclaimed in a statement.

``As America's economy continues to grow, our aggressive yet practical strategy is putting us on track to reach President Bush's goal to reduce our nation's greenhouse gas intensity 18 percent by 2012,'' he continued.

Yup, he actually used the words "unparalleled commitment". Which is true in a really negative sense since the Bush administration's plan is pretty much the reverse of any other developed nation's plan.

Now get this - they're spinning an emissions increase (of 0.4% less than the average since 1990 which has been 1.2% per year) as a success...when scientists say a reduction to 80% of 1990 levels is the minimum that's needed.

In actual fact, industry's emissions dropped - probably because manufacturing is in decline - but emissions from power generation rose.

And then along comes the Energy Dept.

``The slow growth in emissions from 2004 to 2005 can be attributed mainly to higher energy prices that suppressed demand, low or negative growth in several energy-intensive industries, and weather-related disruptions,'' the Energy Department said in a separate report on greenhouse gas emissions.

What happened to the vaunted message discipline? heads are gonna roll, I tell you.