Blindsided

When the Bush administration managed the removal of the outspoken previous chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at the behest of its friends in the energy industry, it hoped to replace him with somebody more friendly to energy interests. (The IPCC is a creature of the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme and thus beyond the direct control of the United States.) The administration thought it had found its man in Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, an economist and engineer with previous ties to energy companies. But Pachauri blindsided the administration recently calling for "very deep" cuts in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses in order for humanity to "survive." And, he made it clear that he's not talking about doing something in the distant future, but now, meaning, right away. He said the world is bumping up against the point of no return after which catastrophic outcomes are assured.

The Bush administration might have pushed a different candidate to head the IPCC if administration officials had bothered to read this piece from the News India Times from 2002. But, then the president has said he doesn't read the newspapers. Do any of his advisors bother to read them?

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