More evidence that the US is about to act
Further talk that the US adminstration may soon announce a reversal of climate change policy, this time predicted in the State of the Union Address by the US President to Congress.
“In his quest for a defining legacy beyond the Iraq war, a chastened President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address will put energy security - reducing US dependence on foreign oil - at the heart of his political agenda for his final two years.
It is not a new issue for the former oilman. He trumpeted it in 2001, cemented by an energy strategy he summed up as: “We darn sure have to do a better job of finding more supply. We can’t conserve our way to energy independence.”
But this year will see a transformation in this view. In his past five State of the Union speeches, Mr Bush made no reference to global warming. On Tuesday he will make an explicit link between the demands of energy security and the environment, says Tony Snow, White House spokesman. “Energy and environmental policy are linked, for the simple reason that the president has talked about getting rid of an addiction to oil, and looking for alternative sources of energy which do not contribute to greenhouse gases or global warming.” “