War Over The Climate Heats Up Even As Climate Itself Cools Down

Get ready for a three-ring circus. In one corner you find those concerned with the recovery of the economy, in the second corner those concerned about threats to national security and in the third corner global warmers who agonize about catastrophic climate change. The battle between these three factions will revolve about the use of energy and will play out in the White House and in Congress, but also in the public arena: • Obama's economic advisers at Treasury and the Budget Office will try to delay any major climate policies that could adversely impact economic recovery. • The National Security Council and Defense Department, and to a lesser extent the State Department, will be concerned with maintaining a strong U.S. economy to be able to act forcefully when foreign problems arise. • The global warmers will be led by energy-climate czarina Carol Browner, EPA chief during the Clinton years, and by science adviser John Holdren, who testified that a billion people might die by 2020 unless greenhouse-gas emissions are sharply reduced. Using all the powers of the Clean Air Act, the EPA may try to impose severe regulations on carbon dioxide, which they would like to label as a pollutant. The outcome of such internal battles is never certain...IBD