Ah, the ups and

Ah, the ups and downs of environmentalism. Last week, the 15 members of the European Union ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Japan, too, signed the treaty recently. But under the Bush administration, the U.S. has opted out of the plan that would mandate a reduction in carbon monoxide emissions to pre-1990's levels.

Oddly enough, in what seems to be more than a coincidence, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency submitted a report on global warming to the United Nations last week. The report reverses the administration's previous stance on global warming and now states that the problem is caused by humans and is likely to disrupt the environment.

Now, one would think that that would be a clear sign of progress and renewed environmental responsibility within the government... but apparently Bush doesn't think so. According to the Washington Post: Asked about the EPA report, Bush replied dismissively, "I read the report put out by the bureaucracy." As for Ari Fleischer: White House spokesman Ari Fleischer later told reporters there still is "considerable uncertainty" on the scientific causes of global warming.

If Bush doesn't trust all the ratifying countries of the Kyoto Protocol and reports from his own EPA, what is he waiting for--John Muir to show up on his doorstep with a flowchart in hand? It's ridiculous, but what can you expect when "leaders" like Senator Trent Lott are holding up pictures of small, fuel-efficient cars and claiming that those sorts of vehicles just don't belong in America? One step forward, thirty years back.