THE 2002 CLIMATE Action Report released by the Bush Administration reaffirms the global consensus on the urgency of climate change. The recent weather events only highlight the urgency.

No single meteorological event can be attributed to climate change. However, a summer of historic fires, 40 percent of the nation being in drought, and record-breaking temperatures indicate a potentially ominous future.

The science behind climate change is solid enough to take action on; the only uncertainty is if the Bush Administration will do anything to stop this pending disaster.

Unfortunately, so far the President does not have much of a track record of confidence on climate change. Besides rejecting the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty designed to reduce greenhouse gases, the Administration has also supported H.R. 4, a fossil fuels-laden energy bill. Furthermore, in an attempt to greenwash environmentalists, the Administration has proposed the Clear Skies initiative, a farce of a source review that does nothing to actually clear our skies, much less reduce our emissions.

The President has tried to distance himself from the findings of the EPA, and he has tried to undermine the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by having its head scientist Robert Watson removed in April. However, the Administration cannot hide from the science, and what is even more apocalyptic has been the new stance of the Bush Administration. The administration feels that we should adapt to the inevitable changes of climate change.

It’s almost like a pending train wreck on the horizon with the President at the helm informing his fellow Americans to hold on while he institutes policy which will only exacerbate the problem and accelerate us towards oblivion, instead of actually trying to stop the oncoming disaster. The adverse impacts of climate change do not need to occur; the U.S. has an abundance of the sun’s rays and the Earth’s winds, which could create thousands and even possibly millions of jobs in the alternate energy field. What we need to do is elect leaders in November who have a clue and a plan for combating climate change.