G-8 Global Warming Jude Wanniski July 8, 2005

There is reason for Wall Street to cheer today, with the "consensus" statement on Global Warming a complete victory for President Bush, which is why Prime Minister Tony Blair is hopping mad. Instead of Bush buying into the European GW position that the science is settled, the other G-8 members bought the Bush administration position that the science is not settled. Here is the proof:

G8 Statement:

(a) Climate change is a serious and long-term challenge that has the potential to affect every part of the globe. We know that increased need and use of energy from fossil fuels, and other human activities, contribute in large part to increases in greenhouse gases associated with the warming of our Earth`s surface. While uncertainties remain in our understanding of climate science, we know enough to act now to put ourselves on a path to slow and, as the science justifies, stop and then reverse the growth of greenhouse gases.

The italicized phrase comes straight out of Bush's "Global Climate Change Policy Book," from Feb. 2002, growth of GHG emissions, while sustaining the economic growth needed to finance investment in new, clean energy technologies. It sets America on a path to slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, and -- as the science justifies -- to stop and then reverse that growth:

And again from Bush's Policy Book:

Focusing on Greenhouse Gas Intensity Sets America on a Path to Slow the Growth of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and as the Science Justifies - to Stop and Then Reverse That Growth.

Similarly, on CEQ`s Web site, in the section titled "Addressing Climate Change," we find:

President Bush is addressing the complex and important issue of global climate change with an ambitious strategy: slow the rate of increase in greenhouse gas emissions, and then, as the science justifies, stop – and then reverse - the accumulation of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

Finally, consider CEQ Chairman James L. Connaughton`s July 11, 2002 testimony before Senate Science, Commerce and Transportation Committee on United States Global Climate Change Strategy,

This [the President`s policy] will put America on a path to slow the growth of our greenhouse gas emissions and, if the science justifies, to stop and reverse the growth of emissions.

* * * * *

For further evidence that the science is not settled, check this website http://www.oism.org/oism/s32p31.htm. This is shaping up as a major defeat for the Manic Malthusians, a big win for economic growth.