White House Refuses to Disagree With Views of Global Warming Deniers

Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress at 9:25 AM on March 5, 2008.

Hundreds of people who don’t believe that humans contribute to global warming are currently congregated in New York City for a conference sponsored by the energy-industry funded Heartland Institute. Many of them, in fact, don’t believe that global warming even exists.



Conference participants include weather anchorman John Coleman, who wants to sue Al Gore to expose the “fraud” of climate change, and Patrick Michaels, who fabricated his legitimacy by inaccurately referring to himself as Virginia’s “state climatologist.”

In recent days, President Bush has tried to give the illusion that he is taking steps to solve global warming. In today’s press briefing, however, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino refused to distance the Bush administration from the deniers:

PERINO: I don’t think the President has an opinion on the meeting. I haven’t talked to him about it. And if people want to gather and express their views, they’re obviously very welcome to do so, and New York is as good a place as any.

QUESTION: You are saying that he doesn’t disagree with these people who are questioning…

PERINO: The President’s position on climate change is well- known. He’s long said that human beings are contributing in some ways to climate change.

Perino’s vague answer — that humans are contributing “in some ways” to global warming — mirrors the White House’s vague position. While trying to appear environmentally-friendly, the administration has dropped progressive energy investments, muzzled government climate scientists, kowtowed to industry executives, and spouted denier rhetoric.



Also yesterday, these deniers released a report “arguing that recent climate change stems from natural causes.” Their report was the “work of 23 authors from 15 nations, some of them not scientists.” By contrast, the Nobel-Prize winning IPCC’s report was the work of several hundred scientists from more than 100 countries over a five-year period.
Also yesterday, these deniers released a report "arguing that recent climate change stems from natural causes." Their report was the "work of 23 authors from 15 nations, some of them not scientists." By contrast, the Nobel-Prize winning IPCC's report was the work of several hundred scientists from more than 100 countries over a five-year period.

Transcript:

QUESTION: Thank you, Dana. On another question -- two questions. President Klaus of the Czech Republic, and John Stossel, the co-anchor of ABC's 20-20, are among 98 speakers at the International Conference on Climate Change, Global Warming: Truth or Swindle, which is now going on in New York City. And my question: Does the President welcome or deplore this gathering of so many scientists who have signed a petition that global warming probably is natural and not a crisis?

PERINO: I don't think the President has an opinion on the meeting. I haven't talked to him about it. And if people want to gather and express their views, they're obviously very welcome to do so, and New York is as good a place as any.

QUESTION: You are saying that he doesn't disagree with these people who are questioning...

PERINO: The President's position on climate change is well- known. He's long said that human beings are contributing in some ways to climate change. And that's why we're taking steps to deal with it, and in fact, tomorrow will make a -- have remarks at the International Renewable Energy Conference, when he talks about that very issue.

Tagged as: bush administration, climate change, perino

Amanda Terkel is Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Deputy Editor for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.