Global Warming and CO2 Emissions Blog

Heat waves around the nation's capitol seem to be causing some elected officials to behave in a peculiar manner. It would seem that a handful of politicians are even taking notice of mounting global warming concerns.

The House Government Reform Committee began an inquiry into allegations that White House officials edited reports on global warming to play down the threat it poses.

Retiring Sen. Jim Jeffords (pictured) announced his bill to reverse the U.S. growth in heat-trapping "greenhouse" gases from burning coal and transportation fuels.

The House committee chairman, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., and the committee's top Democrat, Rep. Henry Waxman of California, said they will request data from the White House and hold hearings into whether the White House Council on Environmental Quality intentionally diluted scientific information on the threat of global warming.

Democrats and Republicans took turns criticizing each other, with President Bush's senior environmental adviser fending off attacks on the administration's wait-and-see approach.

"The Bush administration has very little credibility on this issue," Waxman said. Last month, he proposed phased-in cuts in U.S. greenhouse gases over the next four decades.

James Connaughton, chairman of the White House environmental council, seems adept at maintaing his composure under extreme stress. He said Bush's efforts to slow the growth rate in carbon dioxide and cut methane emissions globally go "far beyond what's been done before. "Step one is to slow the growth," Connaughton said.

Assuming the administration has a plan, let's hope there is time for Step Two.

Scientists told the House committee that humans are causing most of the earth's warming and the planet is 8 degrees to 10 degrees hotter than it was thousands of years ago. Some voiced concern with the pace of U.S. efforts.

"The fact that we don't have a plan is really disturbing," said Judith Curry, head of Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

Labels: carbon dioxide emissions, environmental activism, global warming