Bush reportedly regrets global warming, energy policy decisions

[IDemo]

Published on 31 Mar 2006 by EV World. Archived on 1 Apr 2006.

I was so stunned that I couldn’t believe my eyes. This can’t be real, I thought. It has to be a hoax. Tomorrow is, after all, April 1st -- what we in the U.S. call "April Fools" day -- when pranks and hoaxes are commonly pulled. I’ve done it a couple times on EV World; once saying GM had decided to build an electric version of its Geo Tracker SUV and last year when I wrote that a fictitious company called Berkshire Halfway had bought us out for an undisclosed fortune and I "smiled all the way to the bank."

But this report, purportedly from Platts (www.platts.com) saying that George Bush "wishes he had taken a different tack on climate change and energy policy when he came to office..." is simply too hard to believe. I have emailed Bill Loveless at Platts to confirm the authenticity of the document dated March 30, 2006.

(UPDATE: Bill Loveless confirms the report is real. See also official White House transcript below.)

In the article, Platts quotes the president as saying on Wednesday, "’I guess I should have started differently when I first became president and said we will invest in new technologies that will enable us to use fossil fuels in a much wiser way.’ The new technologies he referred to were ethanol and ‘hybrid batteries,’ as well as existing ones for coal and nuclear power."

After delivering a speech at Freedom House, the president was asked about worldwide criticism of his administration’s stance on global warming and Kyoto. He responded, "I believe the best way to put technologies in place that will not only achieve national objectives, like less addiction to oil, but also help clean the air, is to be wealthy enough to invest in technologies, and then to share those technologies with parts of the world that were excluded from the Kyoto protocol."

http://www.energybulletin.net/14511.html

[Lostnote06]

1. Lying S.O.S....the "wars" oil profits took precedent to the countries

....well being

[Ian David]

2. April Fools! n/t

[saltpoint]

3. President Gore and President Kerry both have long-standing

records on the environment that absolutely eclipse anything Dubya's got in this area.

Not sure what to make of this recent info, but environmental awareness and effectiveness & wise management of energy and natural resources are phrases that just don't leap to mind in association with Dubya and Dick and their flunkies in the administration.

To say nothing of their supporters.

Not just people lose when anti-environmental politicians are elected.

[Karenca]

4. He admitted to a mistake?

Shocking..........

[wtmusic]

5. Let's make a fresh start then Georgie

Lots of time--let's put mandatory efficiency targets immediately into place for 2008, 'kay? And create new incentives for development of alternate energy sources, 'kay? How 'bout a national tax on suppliers and refiners to pay for it all, 'kay? And tightened price controls on gasoline, to be sure we don't ask the middle class to pay more than their share...

'Kay, you lying POS?

[driver8]

9. To do that would be hard work. Junior is already working hard and

you want him to work harder? When will he get to ride his bike? When will he get to clear brush?

I never thought I could despise this man more than I already do...but that just changed.

[DanCa]

6. Actually I read somewhere...

That some right wing religious leaders believe in Global Warming. Maybe Bush is just trying to please the majority of his right wing base?

[peacetalksforall]

7. It must be George's joke on us - timed for 4/1. Unbelievably freaky. n/t

[driver8]

8. I am speechless...what an ignorant, arrogant, piece of shit.

Five years, a war for oil, thousands killed and wounded, gas prices going up, Halliburton and Cheney getting rich and this fuckface has the nerve to say "I guess I should have started differently..."???!!!

Let's impeach this douchebag and get it over with.

[struggle4progress]

10. Is W sending Kyoto to the Senate? No -- he's just blathering.

[JohnWxy]

11. Look, this SOB will say anything to dodge blame for what he did or get

credit for what he didn't do (No Child Left Behind - all rhetoric - no money). Can anybody think of an example of when he did NOT lie! Seriously.

Look, if the SHMUCK means it, he can make changes right now. He can immediately go to Congress or use executive orders to immediately incentivize and aggressively promote expansion of renewable energy. We do NOT have to wait six years for cellulosic ethanol to become commercially feasible. We are making corn ethanol right now, but not nearly enough. (Of course, despite this administrations loyalty to coal and petroleum, ethanol is expanding on it's own (a large number of ethanol plants are being built now. So much so the builders cannot keep up with the demand). We could start importing more ethanol from Brazil to reduce GHG emmissions right away and provide more insurance against the coming oil supply disruption of 5% to 10% (Iran, terrorist attacks, Venezuela, Nigaeriea, 2006 hurricane season) until we get domestic production up.

He could mandate that oil companies put some ethanol in all gasoline that way everybody could be reducing GHGs and the demand for imported oil - without having to spend thousands extra to get a hybrid vehicle! And by the way, tell the auto maufacturers to make their FFVs with computer controlled turbo chargers so you can take advantage of the higher octane of Ethanol85 (85%) and get just as good as mileage as you do with gasoline (as Saab did with their 9-5 BioPower). (note: Sabb is owned by GM).

We should be mobilizing (as if going to WAR) to get bio-diesel and ethanol expanding much faster than it is now. Wind Power, though the cheapest source of electricity today would be 40% CHEAPER if laws were changed that would allow Wind Turbine facilities to be financed along the same terms as Utilities use when financing Coal and Natural Gas fired plants. Hey, Bush, if you mean it, fix THAT. Wind Power 40% cheaper than it is right now. This fix wouldn't cost the Government any money at all!

He's lieing his ass off - again.

[hatrack]

12. Fuck him. FUCK HIM. Earth Day's this month, so he must look "concerned"

After five years of muzzling scientists, suppressing dissent and failing to do ANYTHING other than mouth tired techno-platitudes, he now "regrets" carrying water for ExxonMobil, Peabody and the Western Fuels Association?

Bullshit. The Littlest President knows full well who butters his toast and signs his party's campaign contribution checks, and this is just one more page in the Big Book Of Greenwash.

[Javaman]

13. Crocodile tears my friend, crocodile tears...

Funny how he* says this now after all his* friends make swimming pool loads of money.

They have squeezed us and they know it. And they also know that the good times are about to end, so it's time to do there, "oh whoa is me*, what was I thinking", bullshit.

don't by it. Has he* ever done a thing that hasn't been planned well in advanced? Do you really think this mother fucker* is sincere???

pu-lease.

colossal racist oil sucking failure*

[JohnWxy]

15. Exxon-Mobil most profitable company in the world for 2005

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Fortune Magazine said Monday that Exxon Mobil Corp. pushed aside Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to reclaim the top spot on the famed Fortune 500 list of biggest revenue makers.
The list, which ranks publicly traded companies, pegs Exxon Mobil's 2005 revenue at about $340 billion, with profits of $36 billion.
3:09pm 04/04/2006

www.cbs.marketwatch.com


Exxon Mobil last owned the No. 1 position in 2001, Fortune said. It said the oil superpower surged past more than any U.S. company in history last year, and recorded more profits than the next four companies on the Fortune 500 combined.

"This year had all the ingredients for a sputtering economy at best, a significant downturn at worst," said Fortune senior writer Ellen McGirt. "In spite of the portents of doom, however, America 's largest corporations sailed through in extraordinary style, setting records for both revenues and profits."

~~

Perhaps most important was something that didn't happen: an oil shock, allowing profits for petroleum refiners and mining/crude oil companies to rise 57.8% and 80.8% respectively, Fortune said.

[Javaman]

16. It should read...

"In spite of the portents of doom, however, we still gouged the living shit out of them. Bwahahahahaha!"

[phantom power]

14. He "reportedly" reads books without pictures, too.