White House sued over global warming

[peejay 327]

White House sued over global warming

By TERENCE CHEA, Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - Environmentalists sued the Bush administration Tuesday for failing to produce a report on global warming's impact on the country's environment, economy and public health.

The plaintiffs claim the government must complete such a report every four years under the Global Change Research Act of 1990. The plaintiffs say the last report was due in November 2004.

The lawsuit seeks to compel the U.S. Climate Change Science Program to issue the national assessment, which should contain the most recent scientific data on global warming and projections for its future impacts.

Without the report, decision makers and the public "are without one of the most important tools to grapple with this complex, potentially overwhelming and yet all important issue," the complaint said.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, which was named in the lawsuit, had not received the complaint Tuesday and could not comment on it, said spokesman Ben Fallon.

But Fallon defended the administration's record on combating global warming, pointing to increased funding for alternative energy research, for example. He said, "The president has been focused on results-driven research and looking for practical ways to address climate change in ways that aren't damaging to the economy."

Officials at the Climate Change Science Program, also named in the complaint, did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Francisco by the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace.

The assessment is the "first step in crafting solutions to the devastating consequences of climate change if we don't act now," said Julie Teel, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

Environmentalists have accused the administration of trying to suppress dissemination of the previous assessment, issued in 2000, which predicted a dramatic rise in catastrophic storms, floods, droughts and heat-related deaths.

The lawsuit comes as experts from around the world meet in Nairobi for the two-week U.N. climate conference, where they have been trying to set a course for future controls on global greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists attribute at least some of the past century's 1-degree rise in global temperatures to the accumulation in the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, byproducts of power plants, automobiles and other fossil fuel-burning sources.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061115/ap_on_...warming_lawsuit

[DeadPoolX 9]

Whether or not they are right or have a good cause, trying to sue the government is like trying to take down an elephant with a flyswatter. In the end, you won't accomplish what you want and you'll only make it mad.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Which global warming period are we talking about? There have been 4 ice ages. Can we still sue the Neanderthals?

[peejay 327]

Which global warming period are we talking about? There have been 4 ice ages. Can we still sue the Neanderthals?

Only if they failed to submit the reports outlined in the Global Change Research Act of 1990. Since they have been dead for thousands of years prior to 1990...it is safe to assume they are exempt from compliance (unlike the White House).

However...there is a possibility that the earth's atmosphere could have been adversely negatively affected by the Neanderthals' flatulence emissions produced from killing and eating Wooly Mammoths into extinction. So they are not totally off the hook...but since they are dead...it doesn't matter.

[Carol&Marc 0]

Why am I not surprised.

[Peikko 1,575]

Maybe they did it for the publicity? Of course, you are climate experts and know that this is just a bunch of 'hot air'.

[PurrSuede 0]

Maybe they did it for the publicity? Of course, you are climate experts and know that this is just a bunch of 'hot air'.

Usually, Environmental Lawsuits such as this are filed with the purpose of bringing a gov't agency in compliance with an existing law.

We, of course, know that our President and his administration ~surely~ wouldn't ignore their legal requirements required of them under current environmental laws, now would they??

[mawilson 2,133]

trying to sue the government is like trying to take down an elephant with a flyswatter. In the end, you won't accomplish what you want and you'll only make it mad.