Global Reaction To Bush Speech On Climate, Energy - "Very Disappointing", "A Load Of Rhetoric"

[hatrack]

CANBERRA, Jan 24 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's annual address to Congress failed to recognise the seriousness of climate change and his comments were driven by U.S. fears about oil supplies, the Australian Greens party said on Wednesday. Bush, in his State of the Union speech, called on Americans to cut their gasoline use by 20 percent over a decade, mostly through a nearly five-fold increase in use of home-grown fuels such as ethanol by 2017. He also called for tighter vehicle fuel efficiency standards.

"President Bush barely mentioned climate change in his speech. The few measures he did announce were about improving fuel use efficiency and developing alternative fuels, driven by fear about U.S. energy security," Greens Senator Christine Milne said in a statement. About 60 percent of U.S. petroleum supplies are imported. "There was no mention, however, of emissions trading, carbon taxes or promoting public transport, all of which are obvious policy requirements," she said.

Her comments matched concerns in India, where some scientists say climate change will have a major impact. "I think his speech is just a load of rhetoric. He is diluting the issue by talking in terms of cutting the United States' oil dependency, rather than in terms of the serious environmental consequences," said K. Srinivas, campaigner for climate change and energy for Greenpeace India.

Sunita Narain, director for the Centre for Science and Environment, a New Delhi-based think-tank, agreed. "The speech was very disappointing. When the whole world is talking about the importance of climate change and the critical impact it will have, I would have expected more from him," Narain said.

EDIT

http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=SP209615

[Deep13]

1. That was also my reaction.

20% by 2017 is inadequate.

[YankeyMCC]

2. It was certainly a "Load"

actually worse than that, it was a misdirection, an attempt to lead us down the same path of unchecked growth and profiteering for a select few, no real plan, no indication of understanding the fundamental issue.

Yup it was a Load alright.

[NNadir]

3. Disappointing?

Disappointing?

Somebody expected something better?

Speaking only for myself, I expected nothing more than rhetoric and posturing.

While George W. Bush is hardly the only person on the planet to address energy and environmental issues with rhetoric and posturing, he is I think, the acknowledged master of producing empty rhetoric.

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?

[hatrack]

4. Yes, NN, but he spoke the words "global climate change"!!!

In fact, the sentence which contained them must have taken a full eight or nine seconds of airtime!!

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[NNadir]

5. Wow. I didn't know that.

Regrettably I missed the speech. I had other priorities. For instance, it happened that the speech was (inadvertantly I'm sure) scheduled exactly at the time I had committed myself to surfing the net looking for those pictures of Britney without her underwear.