Bush fiddles while planet burns

To the editor:

As a candidate, George Bush acknowledged that climate change was happening and that controls should be imposed on the release of carbon dioxide release. As president, he immediately reneged on this promise and withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol, the only international treaty likely to have any meaningful impact.

The EPA 2002 state-of-the-environment report acknowledged the growing scientific consensus that human activity is responsible for climate change. Yet, for the same agency's 2003 report, the White House political editors eliminated an accurate scientific discussion of the problem. While this was irresponsible in the extreme, it was not surprising, because the Bush administration has consistently ignored or undercut sound science that either runs counter to its political agenda or conflicts with the interests of its allies in the auto, oil and coal industries.

After denying the evidence regarding climate change for three years and adopting a largely do-nothing policy, now the Bush administration has released a report that endorses the scientific consensus that human action is causing global warming. That humans should curb their appetite for burning fossil fuels and should promote the development of alternative technologies is as clear as it can be.

But like Emperor Nero in Rome, the Bush-Cheney folks fiddle while the planet is burning. They demand yet more evidence. It is time for a change of administration. The planet can afford no more blind adherence to corporate interests at the expense of humans and the environment.

EMILY BECK, Jackson