Monday, December 20, 2004

bush, the "environmentalist"!

From americablog - just unbelievable how childish and destructive bush is!


Bush: More Hot Air
by Michael in New York - 12/20/2004 01:25:00 PM
I love this story in the New York Times about a UN conference on the clear and present danger of global warming. Bush, of course, refused to sign off on the Kyoto Protocol or even take the opportunity when more than a hundred nations were poised to act and come up with a plan that the U.S. could agree on. Now, when we're merely OBSERVING a discussion on that accord and what's next, Bush spitefully blocks efforts for other nations to begin more substantive discussions. In other words, we don't want to take part and we don't want any of YOU to take part either.

"This is a new low for the United States, not just to pull out, but to block other countries from moving ahead on their own path," said Jeff Fiedler, an observer representing the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council, to the NYTimes. "It's almost spiteful to say, 'You can't move ahead without us.' If you're not going to lead, then get out of the way."

Needless to say, the rest of the world is annoyed.But you haven't heard the best part yet. The one action that Bush DID support was Saudi Arabia's demand that it be paid a lot of money for any switch by nations from environment-destroying oil to other forms of energy!

"Delegations and observer groups also criticized what they described as an effort led by Saudi Arabia and supported by the United States to hamper approval of so-called
adaptation assistance. That term refers to payments that richer countries would make, mostly to poor, low-lying island countries to help them cope with the impacts of climate change," reports the NYTimes.

"But the issue was complicated by Saudi Arabia's insistence that the aid include compensation to oil-producing countries for any fall in revenues that may result from the reduction in the use of carbon fuels. The European Union, which had announced its intention to provide $400 million a year to an assistance fund, strongly opposed any such provision."

Can you imagine? Saudi Arabia keeps more than half its population enslaved, with a small minority living in inimaginable luxury and does nothing to improve the lot of its nation with money literally pouring in for generations. And they want to be compensated if the world turns its back on oil for safer, cleaner, renewable energy sources? Astonishing.

And, from James Poling:


Earth-Hostile

I'm really tired of the media and it's free handjobs to this administration. On Tuesday they run this headline saying, "Air Pollution a Top Priority for Bush". The only problem is that it's not even true. It doesn't reflect what's actually going on, it reflects what Bush says he's planning on doing sometime in the future if things work out and if he can get enough support and if all the planets align correctly. Still the media runs those headlines making Bush look like an environmental President.

"President Bush will make [not has made] air pollution a top priority in Congress early next year [or whenever he gets around to it], starting with "an aggressive push" to build support for his pollution-cutting plan, senior administration officials said Saturday. [this entire statement is a load of bullshit]"

Meanwhile, here's the true headline of what's going on now, not possibly in the future, but definitely now, "Earth-Hostile Chemical Gets White House OK". If a chemical is described as "earth-hostile" it should be a no-brainer that we stop using it. This chemical depletes the ozone but Bush and his corporate buddies want a little more time to spread it around.

The Bush administration announced new rules Thursday to allow U.S. farmers who grow tomatoes, strawberries and other crops to continue using methyl bromide, an ozone-depleting pesticide that had been scheduled to be phased out worldwide next year. "Catering to a handful of big chemical and agribusiness interests, the Bush administration is actually expanding the use of this dangerous, ozone-destroying chemical," said David Doniger, a policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Everything good that the Bush administration touts is "going to happen", every single fucked up thing "is happening" right now, we are living it. Everytime the Bush administration talks about something good it's always something "they're planning on" or that's "in the works", they can't hold up one positive piece of legislation since they have taken office.

While Bush is currently destroying the environment, the media is still printing headlines based on his word that "air pollution" is a real important issue to him. Fresh air is going to be the least of our worries when the ozone is gone.