Here's a roundup of responses to Bush's climate speech. We'll add to it as more come in.
Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming:
"By
the time President Bush's plan finally starts to cut global warming
emissions, the planet will already be cooked. The President's
short-term goal is to do nothing, his medium-term goal is to do nothing
much, and his long-term goal is to do nothing close to what's needed to
save the planet from global warming."
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (ID-Conn.):
"I
share the President's preference of a market-based approach over carbon
taxes. I remain encouraged by EPA's finding last month that the
Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act will achieve strong results in
curbing global warming without imposing economic hardship on Americans.
I don't think that the President's statement will have any negative
impact on our efforts to attract votes to the Climate Security Act on
the Senate floor this June. I remain confident about the prospects of
this critical legislation."
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.):
"The President's
announcement today that he supports measures to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions in the U.S. is welcome news as the Senate prepares to
consider climate change legislation this summer. This personally
delivered message is recognition that a growing problem faces America
-- and the world -- caused by erratic fluctuations in climate,
particularly temperature variations and rainfall patterns. I am pleased
the President is prepared to engage on this vital issue, both on
Capitol Hill and on the international stage."
National Association of Manufacturers President John Engler:
"President
Bush has laid out a constructive and balanced set of principles to curb
greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 ... We agree with President Bush that
Americans deserve an honest and open discussion of climate change
solutions by their elected representatives rather than decisions
imposed by unelected regulators and judges. However, the primary
federal legislation (S. 2191) sponsored by U.S. Senators Joseph
Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.) set for debate in Congress
would do more economic harm than environmental good. We look forward to
working with Congress and the administration on legislation that
reduces greenhouse gas emissions without damaging the economy."
Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.):
"Today, the president
offered a can't-do plan for a can-do people. He has been silent for so
long, we all were thirsty for his climate proposal. Some may take any
drop of water as the solution. But the tidbits offered today were a
mirage that did nothing to quench our thirst ... Americans have the
will, talent, and can-do spirit to meet or exceed an aggressive limit
on carbon-dioxide emissions. The president needs to back a plan that
will challenge us, like President Kennedy did in 1961 when he
challenged us to land a man on the moon. His speech today was a drought
of vision and leadership. Congress will continue to pick up the mantle."
Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.):
"The
President's proposal on global warming simply shows a lack of political
courage. This is nothing more than an 11th hour scramble on an issue
that should have been a priority seven years ago. Instead of wasting
precious time, the President should be working with the New Direction
Congress to pass historic cap-and-trade climate legislation."
Competitive Enterprise Institute Director of Energy & Global Warming Policy Myron Ebell:
"President
Bush's global warming proposals could have been worse ... But it was
still a pointless speech that was unnecessary. While the President said
that the global warming debate was intensifying, global warming
alarmism is collapsing all around the world. With today's proposals,
however, the President has managed to re-energize that alarmism ...
President Bush has moved the debate toward energy rationing policies
that will raise electricity and gasoline prices paid by consumers ...
But perhaps we should be grateful that he hasn't moved the debate far
enough to please the global warming alarmists."
Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope:
"The
president is throwing a Hail Mary to polluters in a last-ditch effort
to stave off any meaningful action on global warming. Under the
president's plan we'll need a real miracle to save us from global
warming."
Friends of the Earth President Brent Blackwelder:
"President
Bush's proposal is a transparent attempt to block progress in the fight
against global warming ... The idea that President Bush is serious
about fighting global warming is laughable. Fortunately, Bush's attempt
to impede progress doesn't really matter. This is the last whimper from
an increasingly irrelevant president. Bush will be gone in a matter of
months and our country will then finally have an opportunity to show
the leadership the world has been calling for."
Center for American Progress Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy Daniel J. Weiss:
"After
squandering seven years, President Bush still refuses to respond to
alarm bells. His strategy announced today is like trying to douse a
10-alarm fire with a garden hose -- it is completely inadequate."
League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski:
"Earlier
this year, the Vatican announced that polluting is a sin, and we had
hoped that Pope Benedict could convince President Bush to take
meaningful action to reduce global warming ... The President may have
confessed that global warming is a problem, but his inadequate
proposals show that he'd rather kiss the rings of oil executives than
listen to the Holy Father and every reputable climate scientist in the
world. This proposal is too little, too late to effectively reverse
global warming and too little, too late to save this President's record
of failure."
Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp:
"The
White House sees the handwriting on the wall and knows that regulations
are coming one way or another. The administration is now inching closer
to the table, and that can help move a bill in 2008. What remains to be
seen is whether the President is willing to support legislation that
gets the job done ... On the details, he falls far short of the mark
today."
Greenpeace USA Executive Director John Passacantando:
"Instead
of proposing decisive action and reversing a two-term legacy of
obstructing any meaningful progress on global warming, President Bush
has once again offered more voluntary and non-binding proposals rather
than hard science-based targets to reduce this country's global warming
pollution. He talked about vague principles rather than taking
principled action ... The time has come to look beyond President Bush
and towards the next occupant of the White House for leadership and
vision on global warming. President Bush came into the office in 2001
as an oilman from Texas and he leaves office in 2009 an oilman from
Texas."
Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke:
"In
his eighth year, the president has just proposed a path on global
warming weaker than the campaign pledge he made in September of 2000
and broke three months into office. Not content with blocking action
over the last eight years, this president is trying to lock in
pollution growth for the next 15. His approach would extend his
dangerous legacy on global warming far beyond his time in office. His
statement seems a thinly disguised attempt to derail global warming
solutions currently moving in Congress. The Lieberman-Warner bill is
set to be voted on in June and it should be strengthened and passed,
not attacked by this do-nothing president."
