More outrageous environmental news out today concerning Bush's covert efforts to doctor science and basically mislead (again) the American public on a very important issue.

This time we have a White House lawyer who freely edited climate reports:

A White House official who once led the oil industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents.

In handwritten notes on drafts of several reports issued in 2002 and 2003, the official, Philip A. Cooney, removed or adjusted descriptions of climate research that government scientists and their supervisors, including some senior Bush administration officials, had already approved. In many cases, the changes appeared in the final reports.
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Mr. Cooney is chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the office that helps devise and promote administration policies on environmental issues.

Before going to the White House in 2001, he was the "climate team leader" and a lobbyist at the American Petroleum Institute, the largest trade group representing the interests of the oil industry. A lawyer with a bachelor's degree in economics, he has no scientific training.

Meanwhile, this statement is released today by the national science academies of 11 countries:

"It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities. The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action."

We'll no doubt hear the inane call for even more research from the right-wing nuts, claiming to be unconvinced despite the current massive body of evidence. I can at least understand those who stand to gain monetarily by burying or fudging the facts (such as energy lobbyists, oil companies, utilities, etc.), what I don't understand is John Q. Public going along with this BS.

Speaking of which here's a story that explains how Exxon influenced Bush's decision to pull out of Kyoto. Of course, up till now, Exxon denied any such involvement. Remember this story the next time you see a warm-and-fuzzy pro-environment Exxon ad in a magazine.