Thank You, President Bush

No, really. Thank you President Bush for doing nothing. It is the only credible step you could have taken at this stage in your presidency. It took guts to do it, seriously.

Last week the Bush EPA issued a notice that, in the stilted vernacular of the government, is called an "Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking." In the notice, the US Environmental Protection Agency essentially was silent on whether global warming is a threat to human health or the environment. This astounding reversal of a previous EPA finding ensures that the current administration will do nothing on global warming, leaving it to the next president and Congress. Although the notice puts forth several options for dealing with global warming, it brings nothing new to the table, charts no tangible course to deal with the problem, and likely will do little to help curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Just about a month ago EPA said that it could use the 38 year old Clean Air Act to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases, which are thought to contribute to global warming. But the White House rejected that notion, stating that the law was outdated and that any attempts to regulate greenhouse gases using it would cripple the economy. The EPA Administrator, Stephen Johnson subsequently said that the Clean Air Act is the wrong tool for the job, and that the issue is now in Congress' hands.

I agree.

President Bush's decision is, in my view, and paradoxically, the right decision. It is the only honorable thing President Bush could have done at this point. Anything else would have been irresponsible and, in the words of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, "bogus." President Bush also agreed with other world leaders at the recently concluded G-8 summit to a voluntary 50% reduction in greenhouse gases worldwide by 2050. Of course, there are no details on how to reach this goal, but it is a step in the right direction.

So the issue is now back in the hands of Congress and the next president. Have we lost valuable time in the fight to combate global warming? Of course. Is it too late to take meaningful action? Some scientists believe it is. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/too-late-to-avoid-global-warming-say-scientists-402800.html.

Being the eternal optimist in all things (except for the Baltimore Orioles), I don't think it is too late. But it is time for us all to take those individual steps to reduce our own impact on the Earth. More on that later.