Time now to turn our attention to news releases from outlets that perhaps you have not previously recognized for their powerhouse scientific reporting. UN weapons inspector Hans Blix is taking some heat from American conservatives for his interview over on MTV, where he says,”…you have the instances like the global warming convention, the Kyoto protocol, when the U.S. went its own way. I regret it. To me the question of the environment is more ominous than that of peace and war…the environment, that is a creeping danger. I’m more worried about global warming than I am of any major military conflict.” Over on Fox News, Blix’s comments are being met with what could politely be called derision in between the issuance of news stories like “[Potential] Iraqi Oil Well Fires Not a Major Health Threat”.
Not to worry, says a news release from GOPNews (“Bringing the conservative message to America”). “…The White House announced a $1 billion, ten-year demonstration project to create the world’s first coal-based, zero-emissions electricity and hydrogen power plant….’This demonstration project and the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum will build on these initiatives to provide the American people and the world with advanced technologies to meet the world’s energy needs’ [President] Bush said.” However, critics say these efforts are too little, too late. Seventeen environmental experts, assembled by the National Academy of Sciences at the president’s request, said in their report that the president’s strategy “lacks most of the basic elements of a strategic plan: a guiding vision, executable goals, clear timetables and criteria for measuring progress”.
So…what are the facts?