Controversial Bush-Era EPA E-mail Released

Message Buried by Bush Administration Because of Its Conclusions on Global Warming Surfaces

(AP)  A controversial e-mail message buried by the Bush administration because of its conclusions on global warming surfaced Tuesday, nearly two years after it was first sent to the White House and never opened.

The e-mail and the 28-page document attached to it, released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, show that back in December of 2007 the agency concluded that six gases linked to global warming pose dangers to public welfare, and wanted to take steps to regulate their release from automobiles and the burning of gasoline.

The document specifically cites global warming's effects on air quality, agriculture, forestry, water resources and coastal areas as endangering public welfare.

That finding was rejected by the Bush White House, which strongly opposed using the Clean Air Act to address climate change and stalled on producing a so-called "endangerment finding" that had been ordered by the Supreme Court in 2007.

As a result, the Dec. 5 e-mail sent by the agency to Susan Dudley, who headed the regulatory division at the Office of Management and Budget was never opened, according to Jason Burnett, the former EPA official that wrote it.

The Bush administration, and then EPA administrator Stephen Johnson, also refused to release the document, which is labeled "deliberative, do not distribute" to Democratic lawmakers. The White House instead allowed three senators to review it last summer, when excerpts were released.

The Obama administration in April made a similar determination, but also concluded that greenhouse gases endanger public health. The EPA is currently drafting the first greenhouse gas standards for automobiles, and recently signaled it would attempt to reduce climate-altering pollution from refineries, factories and other large industrial sources.

In response, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Republican lawmakers have criticized the EPA's reasoning and called for a more thorough vetting of the science. An internal review by a dozen federal agencies released in May also raised questions about the EPA's conclusion, saying the agency could have been more balanced and raising questions about the difficulty in linking global warming to health effects.

Adora Andy, a spokeswoman for EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, said Tuesday that the science in 2007 was as clear as it is today.

"The conclusions reached then by the EPA scientists should have been made public and should have been considered," she said.

[kofiannanymous]

This should be headline news in the politics section, not something to be buried in the SciTech section.

[ianlou]

The only science Dubya ever believed in is the science of oil exploration and the science that supports the end of days and the Rapture.

[hungry1968-16]

"Republican lawmakers have criticized the EPA's reasoning and called for a more thorough vetting of the science."






So republican politicians believe that they know MORE about science and discovery, than scientists that specialize in the field being discussed?

Are they going to proclaim themselves smarter than doctors and start performing surgeries too?

[doc_holliday76]

by hungry1968-16:
"Republican lawmakers have criticized the EPA's reasoning and called for a more thorough vetting of the science."


So republican politicians believe that they know MORE about science and discovery, than scientists that specialize in the field being discussed?
-------------------------------------------





You know, I honesty think that their moronic reasoning behind this veiled attempt is more to slow the process for BIG OIL and the fossil fuel industry, exactly like the footdragging and delay of any health care reform.

They win if they can delay, since more confusion with the foxnewsus propagandus and their mis-information and dis-information campaigns clouds any issue in their favor, despite the overwhelming science against them. It's also tough to fight the well-funded status quo!

[sjc_1]

Bush turning the Partnership program producing hybrids into the Freedom Car with fuel cells is an example. Fuel cells where 20 years away and that meant 20 years more oil profits. They would not continue with a hybrid program, that would reduce oil consumption in the near term. The Japanese say the PNGV program and actual manufactured hybrids for sale in the U.S. The U.S. car makers sued CARB and built EVs as pilot programs until Bush took office and then crushed the EVs.

[nazdackster]

ubrew12... You again? Polar bears drowning? Are you the only one left that believes this? AGW is DEAD! http://climatedepot.com/a/3310/Losing-Their-Religion-2009-officially-declared-year-the-media-lost-their-faith-in-manmade-global-warming-fears

[legacyabq]

Holy cow, they act like the science is inconclusive.. It really isnt. The vast majority of scientists know that greenhouse gases rose faster
and stayed at unprecedented levels over the last 100 years of industrialization. Why take chances? Warm oceans kill phytoplankton, which support the whole ocean AND makes a large portion of the OXYGEN we all breathe!! (They're plants, and they're plentiful in the oceans, IDEALLY)

Anyway, good luck to us all and lets hope the ocean stays healthy because in the geologic past it has "died" resulting in massive release of sulfur dioxide and poisonous gases (massive decomposition) which killed of much life for thousands of years at a time. Earth Science is fascinating, but let's LEARN from what we now KNOW, so to speak.. Eh?

[ubrew12]

We are conducting an uncontrolled experiment on our home. Will the house burn down? We don't know, but for some reason there are people who find the thought that it is unlikely a reason to maintain the status quo. Unlike other experiments, we don't get to press the 'restart' button if this all goes to sh*t.

[babooph]

One of the BIG lies for these lost wars was the supposed responsabilty of the president for the SAFETY of the nation-looks like the safety of his family trust funds came FIRST!!

[nazdackster]

tmittelstaed,

If any of that was true, you would see people advertising it, and buying it for cost reasons. Ask the UK how their wind is paying off. It costs much more, is only available when the wind blows, and requires MORE baseline power to deal with the power fluctuations. If solar were a great deal on total cost / kWH no one would need non-market based, high tax "solutions" to problems that don't exist. Let the market work, it always chooses the most effective path, unless the government starts toying with market forces. When that happens, in EVERY case, the results are unintended consequences that offset any supposed benefits. Name an exception to that rule... Just one.

[doc_holliday76]

by nazdackster:
"If solar were a great deal on total cost / kWH ....Let the market work, it always chooses the most effective path..."
-----------------------------------------





HA!..HA!..HA!..."let the market work," especially without any governmental regulation or accountability......sure!! We just saw how well that worked during the bush/cheney Great Recession of 2007-2009!

Why do you constipated conservitards keep pushing the same, old, failed policies and stale rhetoric, especially in the 21st century with a whole different set of problems -- many brought on by GREED?

FACT is, wind power is growing leaps and bounds, increasing 50% per year, and with the 30% tax credits passed in the Feb. Stimulus Bill, even homeowners can get into the act with smaller wind generators. As a matter of fact, even the Cape Wind project has finally gotten past the EIS and FEIS approvals, and should be producing 420 MW of power by the end of 2010.

FACT is, solar is also growing leaps and bounds, with the newest technology, "thin-film" PV, costing about $1 per watt -- less than even your favorite fossil fuels, without any nasty emissions!

Please join the rest of us in the 21st century, stop the foxnewsus propagandus, and completely understand that we need a RENEWABLE ENERGY ECONOMY just like the #1 exporter in the world -- Germany -- where millions of jobs have been created and technology is leading their economy after leaving the antiquated and finite fossil fuels behind!

[bubbadubba]

"This is Obama's fault"
Get ready folks, it will be said here.
HA HA HA HA HA

[timetocomeclean]

Plutocratic Republican monopolists trying to preserve their cash cows then so they could pollute more without consquences and stalling, stalling, stalling with more stalling.

Hey doesn't that sound like their current tactics to obfusticate, confuse and deceive regarding the health care debate?

Its what the military calls Information Warfare, or IW, pronounced,
I-Dubbya for Phat George.

Maybe its their strategery?

[doc_holliday76]

by timetocomeclean:
Plutocratic Republican monopolists trying to preserve their cash cows then so they could pollute more without consquences and stalling, stalling, stalling with more stalling.

Hey doesn't that sound like their current tactics to obfusticate, confuse and deceive regarding the health care debate?
-------------------------------------------





Yep, nothing has changed as the propaganda WARS have increased, so that corporate America and the oligarchic plutocracy still run the entire show, as average Americans are given the middle finger!

[pjk12354]

Let me see if I have this correct:

You have two rich oilmen running the show in this country.
They repeatedly gutted and undermined any envirnmental legislation.

And you are suprised at this memo..........

[doc_holliday76]

by pjk12354:
Let me see if I have this correct:

You have two rich oilmen running the show in this country.
They repeatedly gutted and undermined any environmental legislation.

And you are suprised at this memo..........
---------------------------------------------------






Exactly!

Why anyone would be surprised at this news, after the anti-science busheviks dragged their feet on global warming for years to placate BIG OIL and the fossil fuel industry, is well beyond comprehension!

[realityzone]

LOL, "unread email"... they're assuming bush even knew how to use an email client.

[sjc_1]

They are assuming Bush even knows how to read :)

[nazdackster]

<i>The Chamber of Commerce and the GOP are bought and paid for by companies that don't want any regulation of greenhouse gases</i>

You couldn't be more wrong. The companies leaving the chamber of commerce are pushing regulations that will line their pockets at the expense of competition, and YOU. You will have higher costs for energy, while developing countries have no such obstacles, all while having zero impact on the climate. While you freeze in the dark with $3000 more per year in energy costs, and $4000 per year higher health costs, the US economy will collapse (if it hasn't already). These companies are nothing more than rent-seekers writing their own legislation for a non-competitive advantage at YOUR expense. They are traitors, all. I urge you to read up on this, and boycott all of the cap & trade rent seekers, including GE, Nike, Apple, Duke Energy, Caterpillar and others. You can get a good (but not exhaustive) starting list of these carbon criminals at junkscience.com . You won't catch me buying a single product of theirs until they change their ways.

Keep up the good work Chamber of Commerce, real American Job Creators who favor competition and fair trade are behind you all the way.

[tmittelstaed]

So, I'm going to have higher costs for energy? Let's see, what's one of the hottest industries right now? Manufacture of photovoltiac solar panels that mount on the house, that's what it is. And those panels only convert VISIBLE light to electricity - there's a whole range of invisible infra red and gamma and x-rays pouring down on us that can be harnessed, and will be with future panels.

In another 50 years or so it will be possible for the average single-family home, which is well-insulated (sorry that gets rid of all the old junk housing built back in the 1910's with no insulation) to generate all the power that it needs ON SITE. Passenger cars will be electric and MIT has already released several studies that show costs for powering an electric car are about 1/3 on a per-mile basis than from fueling it from gasoline. And right now, do you know what the LOWEST cost-per-kilowatt power is? Wind. That's right - if you look at the internal energy company documentation that the regulators get to see, you will find that wind generation has the lowest cost for the utilities - that's why all of the utilities are going great guns scouting around for wind generation sites, and are putting wind generation online as fast as they can get the foundations poured for the turbines.

I'll be happy to have the developing countries beholden to OPEC and having to send their armies into the mid-east to support Israel and keep the oil pipeline flowing to them. You think that generating power from oil is cheaper? Hardy har har. You don't know what your talking about.

And as for coal, we now have coal power plants that have such good pollution controls on them that the only thing that comes out of their smokestacks is carbon dioxide, water, and waste heat. And that carbon dioxide is valuable as a feedstock to make methanol, which can be used in jet planes as fuel.

[Lawyers-Guns-n-Money-01]

Controversial Bush-Era EPA E-mail Released
=============================================

Of course he buried it. Kick THAT political football down the road. That would mean he would have had to provide resistance to the big energy folks that line the pockets of influential power brokers and he'd have to contradict their junk science esteemed as noble writ.

[credibility2]

In the Chicago area we had one of the coolest summers on record in decades. As of today, we've had sixteen consecutive days of below normal temps. Global warming? These are normal trends in cycles. Some scientists contend that we're actually in a cooling trend and not a warming trend.

[democracy1]

I'm willing to bet that you never received particularly high grades in science...or logic for that matter.

[curse914]

@Credibility2, sell it to the folks in the Philipins as soon as the record flood waters recede.

BTW, we have had a record dry year here and not just the winter before we had hundred year flood records shattered. YOU, need to put it in context.

[steeepe]

The Chamber of Commerce and the GOP are bought and paid for by companies that don't want any regulation of greenhouse gases. They'd rather keep their short-term financial goals and profits and to heck with what happens in the future.

[bpai99]

This is no surprise. Everyone already knew Bush treated the administration of justice and science as tools to further the GOP agenda. No news here.

[kansas1946]

Oh, gosh. What a surprise. Bush NEVER met a scientist he didn't disput (brilliant scientific mind that he had..lol). The president of the United States would rather have sick children, sick adults, dirty water and filty air than stand up to the whacked out right that thinks the earth is 8,000 years old. No surprise here.

[the74blaster]

What do you expect from the flat earth society?

Bush and his neocon supporters are against regulating the banks, industry, power plants or anything to do with cutting into the profits of his wealthy base.

Remember, these people oppose education and wanted to replace the so called junk science with intellegent design! Heaven help American innovation if they ever succeed!

The rest of the world would beat us because they know that the so called junk science is the key to engineering new products, developing new advanced medical procedures, and developing alternative energy sources!

The GOP goals are not consistent with the best interests of our country!

Vote the rest of these lowers out in 2010!

[olyboy]

Why are we still talking about this stuff? The Earth is constantly changing temperature, it's called existence -- nothing is ever the same. Clearly the temps are once again moderating, anyone who's been outside in the last year or so realizes that. So, what is driving all this?

[P0STING_AWAY]

You and your cousin, the ostrich, both have a GREAT place to
stick your heads in times of trouble.
Just remember to hold your breath when it is raining ....

[tmittelstaed]

What? Uh, I suppose you missed the weather report for the last week? All sorts of storm records were broken back East.

Global warming doesn't mean every location on Earth warms up for every day. It means permanent changes in weather patterns, such as decreased annual rainfall in some areas, or increased annual rainfall in others. It means storms during times that historically there wern't storms, and severe stormes during times that historically there were just storms. It means areas that animal and plant species traditionally inhabit move towards the poles. But most of all it means that many tens of thousands of species which have existed for the last hundred thousand years or so, are snuffed out because changes happen in their environment so rapidly that evolution is too slow for them to adapt to the changes.

[stuart-johns2]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[6591Hou]

"A controversial e-mail message buried by the Bush administration because of its conclusions on global warming surfaced Tuesday, nearly two years after it was first sent to the White House and never opened."

"As a result, the Dec. 5 e-mail sent by the agency to Susan Dudley, who headed the regulatory division at the Office of Management and Budget was never opened, according to Jason Burnett, the former EPA official that wrote it."

Okay maybe I missed something....an EPA document was sent as an email to someone who never opened it (twice it's said it was not opened)....and that's the basis of this story?

A hard-copy wasn't printed, signed off, and taken to the recipient? Just an email that wasn't read - come on, anybody that calls themselves a reporter should be able to do better than this....why didn't the EPA make it a formal document? was it pursued? by who? how did they pursue it? who did they take it to? Make it a real story with something newsworthy in it.

[tmittelstaed]

The EPA obviously was under orders by the Bush White House to call them before sending anything controversial to them by e-mail. That way, the White House could simply not open the e-mail message, thus claiming that "we never heard of it" if anyone in the EPA leaked it to the press.

Can you imagine working in an office in a private corporation where you had to call everyone you sent an e-mail message to inside of the company before you e-mailed them? Can you imagine working at a company and asking a department for a report, the department spending tens of thousands of dollars in labor creating the report then e-mailing it to you - then you see the e-mail, know what the contents are, and -deliberately- not open it?

Imagine this scenario - CEO of a public company asks legal if a proposed company policy will violate the law - legal sends a response back saying it will - CEO sees the response, doesen't open the e-mail, institutes the policy anyway - then when the government hauls him off to court, tries to make the argument that "I didn't know it was illegal because I never opened the e-mail that the legal department sent me" The court wouldn't accept this - yet your willing to accept this from our elected officials? What is your IQ anyway? Negative 40?!?!?