Misunderestimating Bush’s Climate Prattle: Clean Coal Katrina

Green Energy Warriors habitually identify George W. Bush as the culprit in the “who-thwarted-progress?” lineup of suspects which has substituted for US action on climate policy these past seven years. His putative mastermind, Dick Cheney, is a consistent runner up.

Reaction to the mishmash of disingenuous and conflicting precepts bundled together into a White House speech today is likely to follow a predictable “it’s-too-little-too-late” theme. The more imaginative will attempt to spin it as a crafty move to preempt Congress from its supposedly imminent enactment of climate legislation.

In the wordsof an earlier Republican President, “We could do that, but it would be wrong.”

A better approach would be a forensic analysis of the witness’ statement for evidence of what at least some subset of the Republican Brain Trust believes are credible (i.e., not indefensible) positions. Unless one believes this movable skill set and its business sponsors will be completely vanquished from both the executive branch and legislative branch after the November elections, the emotional temptations of political hubris and/or Bush vilification may distract even the dispassionate analyst.

Context is perhaps the most significant factor here. The third session of the Major Economies climate group convenes next week in Paris. Although scoffed at as a diversionary alternative to the UNFCC process for negotiating a post-Kyoto agreement, the proposal to focus climate diplomacy on mutual commitments by Big Players was a respectable gambit before its expropriation by the Bush Administration. Given its embrace by career diplomats among major foreign ministries around the world, it is likely to endure as a bargaining forum long past the American elections.

Set in that context, Bush’s “commitment” to stop US growth in GHG emissions is more non sequitur than nonstarter. As made clear in the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, global emissions — not just those in the US — must peak in the next decade or two and then decline by mid-century to well below current levels in order to avoid dangerous climate change. With a limp-wristed toss, the onetime Denier-in-Chief has thrown acceptance of an American target into the pot.

John Geesman just completed his term as a Commissioner on California Energy Commission and served in the Brown Administration as its Executive Director. He writes “California Green Energy War: A former California Energy Commissioner digests global climate and energy politics” where this article originally appeared and it is republished with his permission. Geesman says of his site: “The Green Energy War is no stranger to passion, but is subject to periodic mind-clearing blasts of rationality as well. Won't you join me on patrol of this frontier as global society works through the greatest struggle of the 21st Century?”