Bush aide 'edited climate papers'
The documents outlined US climate change policy
A White House official edited government reports in ways that played down links between global warming and emissions, the New York Times reported.
Philip Cooney removed or adjusted descriptions of climate research that had already been approved by government scientists, the newspaper said.
The White House denied Mr Cooney, a former oil industry advocate, watered down the reports.
It said the changes were part of a normal inter-agency review process.
The reports were "based on the best available science", spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Mr Cooney is chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, which helps devise and promote the administration's policies on environmental issues.
The administration of President George W Bush has consistently questioned the need for quick action on climate change, and the US has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol aimed at cutting down greenhouse gas emissions.
'Uncertainties'
Before working at the White House, Mr Cooney was a lobbyist at the American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil industry trade group.
He is a lawyer by training, with no scientific background.
The New York Times said he made dozens of changes to reports issued in 2002 and 2003, and many appeared in final versions of major administration climate reports.
They included the insertion of the phrase "significant and fundamental" before the word "uncertainties", and tended to produce an air of doubt about findings most climate experts say are robust, the paper reported.
In another instance, the paper said Mr Cooney added the word "extremely" to the sentence, "The attribution of the causes of biological and ecological changes to climate change or variability is extremely difficult."
The newspaper obtained the documents from the Government Accountability Project, a non-profit group that provides legal assistance to whistle-blowers.
The project is representing Rick Piltz, who resigned in March from the office that co-ordinates government climate research and which issued the documents that Mr Cooney edited.
Tampering with the evidence--Bush Admin and Environment
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Tampering with the evidence--Bush Admin and Environment
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4075986.stm
Empress Cho hammers the KABC of Evil.
"If Ignorance is Bliss, Ann Coulter must be the happiest woman in the universe!"
Take that, you Varlet!
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Dennis, Three Mile Island was about as close to nothing as you can get.
Now, can you name me any other major energy source that has had two or less big-name accidents like nuclear power?
Now, can you name me any other major energy source that has had two or less big-name accidents like nuclear power?
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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wind power and solar power?Cail wrote:Dennis, Three Mile Island was about as close to nothing as you can get.
Now, can you name me any other major energy source that has had two or less big-name accidents like nuclear power?
Empress Cho hammers the KABC of Evil.
"If Ignorance is Bliss, Ann Coulter must be the happiest woman in the universe!"
Take that, you Varlet!
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Neither are major power sources.ChoChiyo wrote:wind power and solar power?Cail wrote:Dennis, Three Mile Island was about as close to nothing as you can get.
Now, can you name me any other major energy source that has had two or less big-name accidents like nuclear power?
Next?
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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Ah, but they could be....and they would be "clean" as well.Cail wrote:Neither are major power sources.ChoChiyo wrote:wind power and solar power?Cail wrote:Dennis, Three Mile Island was about as close to nothing as you can get.
Now, can you name me any other major energy source that has had two or less big-name accidents like nuclear power?
Next?
The question is, Why aren't they??
Could it possibly be the Powah of the dollar waved about by the oil moguls?
Empress Cho hammers the KABC of Evil.
"If Ignorance is Bliss, Ann Coulter must be the happiest woman in the universe!"
Take that, you Varlet!
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Cail, you're absolutely priceless.Cail wrote:Three Mile Island was about as close to nothing as you can get.
For anyone wishing to find out a little more about this "as close to nothing as you can get" incident in which the core of a nuclear reactor became exposed due to a combination of inefficiency, ineptitude and incompetence, check out this website here
"Nom"
Yes, and I'm sorry Sheriff, what actually happened? How much radioactive material was released? Are you goint to try and tell us that TMI was of the same magnitude as Love Canal or Bhopal?
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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Cail, what actually happened was that thanks to serious failures on the part of the NRC, the core of a nuclear reactor became exposed.
So far, the only reason anyone's come up with for the fuel not burning through the reactor walls and triggering a major nuclear disaster is that voids formed in the coolant and prevented a meltdown.
This is significant because:
a) Nobody knew this would happen, it was totally unforseen.
b) It's a good job it did happen because the efforts of the staff at the plant were falling on deaf atoms.
c) It means that the only thing that prevented about 15 million curies of radiation from being released was luck.
d) Nobody's sure if it would happen again in another meltdown situation.
Check out this page of the site I linked to in my previous post for this and other interesting information that wasn't in the official version of events.
This includes some interesting information about the incidence of various cancers that were (of course) totally unrelated to the radioactive plumes that came from the plant.
Here's my favourite telling line that contradicts the official story:
But for dumb luck, 3 Mile Island would have been right up there with Bhopal.
So far, the only reason anyone's come up with for the fuel not burning through the reactor walls and triggering a major nuclear disaster is that voids formed in the coolant and prevented a meltdown.
This is significant because:
a) Nobody knew this would happen, it was totally unforseen.
b) It's a good job it did happen because the efforts of the staff at the plant were falling on deaf atoms.
c) It means that the only thing that prevented about 15 million curies of radiation from being released was luck.
d) Nobody's sure if it would happen again in another meltdown situation.
Check out this page of the site I linked to in my previous post for this and other interesting information that wasn't in the official version of events.
This includes some interesting information about the incidence of various cancers that were (of course) totally unrelated to the radioactive plumes that came from the plant.
Here's my favourite telling line that contradicts the official story:
Oh, and it also goes on to mention (among other things) the unlawful operation of the facility by the NRC, how the criteria for evacuation had been met but were ignored, and the illegal venting of radiactive Krypton 85 and somewhat naughty evaporating of Tritium by Met Ed."Rather, our findings support the allegation that the people who reported rashes, hair loss, vomiting and pet deaths after the accident were exposed to high level radiation and not only suffering from emotional stress.”
But for dumb luck, 3 Mile Island would have been right up there with Bhopal.
"Nom"
Sheriff, I'm not denying that there were serious screw-ups regarding TMI. Quite the contrary, my point was that even with the gross negligence, there was a very limited impact from the incident.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
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Well, even I do it from time to time when we're not talking politics. Take two of these and the headaches will go away...Plissken wrote:Sherrif, I hate to agree with Cail...
Oddly enough, I don't discount nuclear power outright. We have exactly the same debate going on in the UK right now, and the simple fact is that with population growth/increase in energy consumption per household being what they are, the indications are that energy demand cannot be satisfied without it.
The problem with nuclear fuel is that nuclear waste is very dangerous stuff indeed and until we can start getting it off planet we don't really have an acceptable way of dealing with it. (Don't worry, I promise not to start banging on about the space elevator.)
My point was simply that the Three Mile Island incident was most certainly not "as close to nothing as you can get" and to dismiss it as such is dangerously complacent. TMI was a hair's breadth away from being a full blown nuclear catastrophe and if it hadn't have been for the most extraoardinary piece of luck we'd all be having a conversation of a completely different tone.
I'm glad to hear that lessons have been learned from TMI. I only hope they involve the regulation of the businesses that run these facilities, the training their staff recieve, telling the truth about what really happened afterwards and not disregarding the little people who happen to be in the path of the atomic plume when the Nuclear plant goes tits up.
Because they were the problems with TMI, not the design of the facility or the validity of the fuel source.
"Nom"
Point taken Sheriff. I came off a little flippant about what could have happened, but didn't.
I'm a big proponent of nuclear power, but admit that we need a better means of waste disposal.
I'm a big proponent of nuclear power, but admit that we need a better means of waste disposal.
I think, I'm not sure, but I think I should be offended...Plissken wrote:Sherrif, I hate to agree with Cail,......
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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