After Gutenberg

Subtitle: And, all because Google refuses to use a black background

More study, more words, more data disappears as the ice caps melt and every five minutes, the United States spends more than $2 million on imports of oil and other petroleum products.

In “Congress Hears From Muzzled Scientists,” Slashdot reports that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held hearings on the issue of Climate Change.

“More than 120 scientists across seven federal agencies have been pressured to remove the phrases ‘global warming’ and ‘climate change’ from various documents. The documents include press releases and, more importantly, communications with Congress. Evidence of this sort of political interference has been largely anecdotal to date, but is now detailed in a new report by the Union of Concerned Scientists.”

Ignoring the coercion, James Hansen would not be muzzled; he testified about Global Warming before Congress. His behavior may have encouraged other government scientists to speak up.

The hearing held by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee “began by Committee members, including most Republicans, stating that global warming was happening and greenhouse gas emissions from human activity were largely to blame.” It probably is easier to address the muzzling of climate scientists, burning data, etc. than it is to address the influence that Big Oil had and continues to have in Congress.

Slashdot noted that the hearings presage the 2007 report by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). “Drafted by 1,250 scientists and reviewed by an additional 2,500 scientists, is expected to state that ‘there is a 90% chance humans are responsible for climate change’ — up from the 2001 report’s 66% chance.”

The IPCC follows on the heels of other recent reports that the global mean surface temperature in 2006 is currently estimated to be + 0.42°C above the 1961-1990 annual average (14°C/57.2°F). According to the records maintained by Members of the World Meteorological Organization, the year 2006 is currently estimated to be the sixth warmest year on record; and, 2007 will likely be the warmest year on record.

“It probably won’t make for comfortable bedtime reading,” was the rejoinder. As previously noted, climate scientists are concerned that climate change is accelerating. “The future is bleak”, said scientists.

Not particularly impressed that President Bush mentioned Climate Change during the most recent State of the Union Address, Betsy Rosenberg recently noted that if you can believe more than 120 scientists are speaking their truth then “such suppression of the public service performed by government scientists amounts to reckless endangerment of public health and welfare.”

Each day, Monday through Friday, Betsy Rosenberg and her guests bring you environmental news, views and voices from the frontlines of the sustainability movement. Her podcasts are becoming angrier. George and his buddies can “dis” the polar bears and get away with it, but they may get more than they bargained for after riling the eco-feminists.

Her dismay may be in part because the Oily Administration has responded to the concern expressed by growing numbers of the Public over global heating with the appointment of Lee Raymond, former CEO of Exxon-Mobil to lead an influential study to develop policy solutions to America’s energy crisis.

And, besides destroying and discrediting evidence that contradicts the path that they have chosen for the country and the globe, the recalcitrant Big Oil – Big SUV complex, to include the U.S. Department of Energy, has committed to a strategy, which is dangerously unsustainable. There was a great deal of analysis applied to the map recently drawn by President Bush during SOTU. Most analysts agree that the projections were unrealistic. Greenpeace’s Steve Sawyer was a bit more blunt, “He remains delusional,” was Sawyer’s opinion after Bush called for production of domestic oil and crop-made ethanol fuel to be ramped up to ease US dependence on energy imports.

“When you ask people about the environment, they’re concerned about it. If you ask them about their automobile, they don’t think about it as an environmental issue right away. They think about cost, they think about filling up at the gas pump. We need to get people to start thinking about the future and about being responsible.” Dan Becker

Dan Becker, a spokesperson with The Sierra Club stated on the PBS News Hour for January 24 that the new energy initiatives President Bush proposed don’t stack up very well for three reasons:

First, the president misled the American people about what it will take to curb our oil addiction and global warming. Second, he fails to take a lot of the right steps. And, third, he’s taking a lot of the wrong steps.

As long as our nation continues to emit more global warming pollution than any other country in the world, we are risking dangerous consequences for our economy, natural heritage and every citizen. Furthermore, our nation, already a global pariah, faces the risk of increasingly more severe consequences fueled by the increasing number of reports citing the callousness of the United States toward greenhouse gas emssions.

In November, the French proposed (TinyURL) a tax on imports from countries that have failed to sign the Kyoto Accord. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. is objecting. There just isn’t enough money to pay enough mercenaries voluntary citizens fighting alongside our troops to guard Big Oil interests forever.