Nation & World News
Bush global warming plan lacking.' scientists say
President Bush has earmarked
$103 million for global warming
research, but critics say that the
studies don’t focus on the problem
By Seth Borenstein
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
WASHINGTON — The Bush ad
ministration plans to spend at least
two more years and another $ 103
million studying what it calls the
“uncertainty' of the science behind
global warming instead of deciding
how to fix it.
Scientists and environmentalists
say the U.S. Climate Change Science
Program, which will be released
Thursday, focuses too much on sci
entific questions that already have
been answered and not enough on
action. Knight Ridder obtained parts
of the plan Wednesday
The science plan is the Bush ad
ministration's next move on the
thorny issue of global warming.
Soon after taking office, President
Bush withdrew from a 1997 interna
tional treaty to reduce emissions of
so-called "greenhouse gases" —
which contribute to global warming
— and reneged on a campaign
promise to regulate carbon dioxide
emissions from coal-fired power
plants. The president said restricting
emissions of such fossil fuels to slow
global warming would cost too
much, given how uncertain he be
lieves the issue is.
Summaries of the report use the
word "uncertainty" 15 times and the
phrase "fossil fuels" only once.
But uncertainty is more in the eyes
of politicians than of scientists.
While scientists still quibble about
how bad the problem will become, an
overwhelming majority of climate sci
entists say global warming is man
made and is caused primarily by
burning fossil fuels. A team of top in
ternational scientists predicts that
world temperatures will increase
somewhere between 2.5 to 10 degrees
by the year 2100.
Spending so much time looking at
the so-called uncertainty "is a little bit
like somebody sending a letter to the
fire department trying to find out
their capabilities when there is already
smoke coursing through the house,"
said Michael MacCracken, an atmos
pheric scientist. He was the federal
government's top scientist in charge of
studying the impact of global warm
ing from 1993 to 2001.
The prestigious National Re
search Council, which does
scientific and engineering studies
for the federal government said in
February that an early version of the
Bush strategy took good first steps,
but 'lacks most of the basic ele
ments of a strategic plan' that
would help lead to action. Officials
at the council did commend the
Bush administration for seeking
scientific review.
Thursday's plan calls for more re
search in five key areas:
• Understanding today's climate
and how the climate has changed in
the past.
• Figuring out more precisely what
causes global warming.
• Reducing the wide range of
estimates on how hot the atmos
phere will get.
• Understanding how humans and
the environment could adapt to glob
al warming.
• Deciding on 'the limits' and
risks of what can and can't be done
about it.
Commerce Secretary Donald
Evans, in a prepared statement, said:
"The Bush administration has
brought a total government spending
on climate-change related programs
to $4.5 billion. The critical investment
announced today will accelerate select
high-priority research projects and cli
mate observations that will help us fill
critical knowledge gaps.'
(c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
U.S. soldiers kill Hussein sons; some Iraqis skeptical
i ne united states said soldiers Killed
Saddam Hussein’s sons Odai and
Qusai in a raid, but have not yet
released photos of the pair’s bodies
By E. A. Torriero
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq — For nearly 15
years, Tereza Koushaba waited to see
the corpse of Odai Hussein.
"I always knew God would punish
Odai," said Koushaba, 70, whose
son Kamal Gegeo was beaten,
shot and stabbed to death by a
drunken Hussein in 1988. "But I
will not be happy until I see his
body on television.*
Iraqis were widely disappointed
Wednesday that the U.S.-led coali
tion did not release photos of the
corpses of Saddam Hussein's sons,
Odai and Qusai, who were killed
Tuesday in an American assault on a
house in Mosul.
Among those who believe the
brothers are dead, there also was
anger that they were not captured
alive to face trial. And while many
cheered the sons' demise, Iraqis
showed little pleasure at the heavy
firepower displayed in the U.S. raid
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Already distrustful of U S. long
term aims in Iraq, victims of the Hus
sein regime and its political oppo
nents say it will take more than mere
assurances by a U.S. general to con
vince them of the brothers' end.
"Are they really dead?" asked Raid
hi Shineshel, a former star soccer play
er who suffered beatings and impris
onment when Odai's Iraqi national
team did not play well. "Then show
us the proof so we can see it with our
own eyes."
Late Tuesday, U.S. commanders
raised Iraqi expectations by promis
ing full details of the raid that killed
the Hussein brothers. Iraqi leaders
often have informed U.S. officials of
the public's need to see photographs
of dead former regime members as
proof that the Hussein machine is
not returning.
Early Wednesday, U.S.-run Iraqi ra
dio told people to be ready for an im
portant announcement. But through
the day, as the Bush administration
deliberated what to allow the Iraqi
people to see, residents grew increas
ingly suspicious.
"We are not sure if they are Qusai
and Odai's bodies or not. ... They
need to take a picture and show it,"
said Mohammed Fadhil, an Iraqi
journalist, at a cafe for intellectuals.
The family of Kamal Gegeo, a Hus
sein family valet, was eager Wednes
day morning to talk publicly about
how Odai had killed him in 1988.
Later in the day, relatives refused to
do an extended interview because
Iraqi news media had shown no
photos of Odai's body and they
feared his vengeance.
(c) 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
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