Bush accepts global warming, announces programs

President Bush held a press conference today to announce a broad new initiative intended to combat global warming. Aside from a few inexplicable sidetracks, like:

Right way - reduce carbon emissions

Wrong way - abandon coal industry and “nucular power”

in which he seemingly forgot that coal IS carbon (which when burned, becomes smoke, which…typically gets emitted…) it was the most scientifically-accepting, forward-thinking program we’ve seen from the Bush government.

In the meantime, it almost sounds like President Bush has got his head on straight. I also like his talk about international responsibility, though I can see it becoming a scapegoat to use that “binding international agreement” to hold them to a lower standard than ourselves.

He also seems to have his head on straight about realistic ways to make this happen. It makes my heart warm to hear that the government is aware that these technologies are pricey and that their convoluted incentives program is really just stifling green technology and rewarding the same old fat cats. Hopefully revamping that system will put the money into the right, able hands to innovate and make green technology more effective and affordable.

Additionally, I’m pleased to see the concern for bringing these technologies into the developing world, although I suspect it may have been a dig at China, whose emissions dwarf our own and continue to grow every year. While I’m sure the President is interested in helping American businesses get ahead of the game in marketing these technologies to the rest of the world and setting the foundation for another American export industry, I’m happy to hear some recognition of the pricing challenges that would entail. The talk about encouraging the specific development of products for those markets and the need to “eliminate trade barriers for clean energies and technologies” makes me think that something might actually get done.

If nothing else, at least the President is (finally) acknowledging that there IS some sort of global climate change and that we need an “environmentally effective, economically stable” solution. I’m also glad

Also, he almost slipped and referred to our “feller nations,” which would have made me chuckle with glee.