BUT IS THIS PERP WALK TIME OR JUST MORE GRIST FOR THE IMPEACHMENT MILL?
When it rains, it sure does pours for the Bush administration. Fresh on the heels of the Abramoff and Foley scandals comes the word that Mr. Bush and his enablers are being investigate by the inspectors general of NASA and the Commerce Department for their part in censoring and suppressing federal research into global warming.
Specifically being targeted in this investigation are internal documents and correspondence that will support what is believed to be widespread misconduct”.
It seems that the administration’s little ole’ campaign to bury Global Warming research considered unfavorable to Mr. Bush and his Texas big oil buddies and to stifle government scientists from speaking freely on the topic, is in fact illegal.
Whether the President or any of his merry men will be making the perp walk over this or this is just more grist for the impeachment mill is unknown at this point.
What is known is that opponents to the president’s environmental policies and Democrats in general, will have a field day with this, claiming that Mr. Bush’s callous disregard for the health and welfare of our fellow citizens is all the more reason why Republicans should be sent packing both next week and in the Presidential election of 2008.
One such Democrat, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, of New Jersey, commenting on the investigation, noted “taxpayers do not fund scientific research so the Bush White House can alter it.”
Speaking for the administration, Ms. Kristen Hellmer, of the White House Council for Environmental Quality, defended the administration’s support of the “scientific process in its approach to studying climate change” claiming, “We have in place the most transparent system of science reporting, and claims that the administration interfered with scientists are false.”
Hellmer went on to say. “Our focus is on taking action and making real progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The nearly $2 billion worth of climate science we publish annually leads the world and speaks for itself.”
Disputing her contentions about the administrations stewardship of the environment is the fact that the total U.S. emissions, now more than 7 billion tons a year are projected to rise 14 percent from 2002 to 2012.
Also, there is the fact that the Bushies have been caught red handed, on more than one occasion, trying to alter scientific fact, such as when they insisted that a web designer insert the word “theory” with any mention of the Big Bang.
Additionally, administrators of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), at the direction of the White House, have been accused of attempting to bury a report linking hurricane strength and frequency to global warming.
James Hansen, a prominent NASA climate scientist, has also cited instances where NOAA has tried to prevent researchers working on global climate change from speaking freely about their work.
But that is to be expected from such a business friendly and corrupt administration as the one we are currently straddled with.
At least here in California we are doing something about the environmental issue with several of the initiatives on next Tuesdays ballot targeting specifics of the overall problem.
Specifically Proposition 84, which is a clean water measure, Proposition 86, which is a tax on cigarettes to fund health care and Proposition 87, which taxes oil taken from the ground in California and funds the development of alternative fuels.
In these pages, I have long claimed that if there is anything that man must fear over the next 50 years, it is potential for environmental catastrophe and not any damage that could be done by any tinhorn dictator or religious zealot.
The reason is that environmental catastrophe is global affecting all people in all parts of the world, while war damage, short of destroying the planet, is localized.
But still we go on, day by day, pushing our country and the rest of the world closer to the edge. Already we are feeling the effects of the earth’s unrest. Hurricanes and other weather disturbances have in recent years become more intense and at greater frequency.
Still we burn the fossil fuels that cause much of the problem with little real investigation and development into other less polluting forms of energy. What’s more, it is impossible to tell how far we really are along the line to energy independence and how much of what we’ve been told is more administration bullshit.
Hopefully this investigation will go a long way toward plugging that knowledge gap.
LIB – EDITOR
In a triple setback for conservatives, South Dakota rejected a law that would have banned virtually all abortions, Arizona became the first state to defeat an amendment to ban gay marriage and Missouri approved a measure backing stem cell research. 
