Hightower Lowdown

George W. is a global kind of guy—he’s a promoter of corporate globalization, and, of course, he’s got his global war on terrorism. But mention global warming to him, and he turns into a flat-earth parochialist.
Never mind that the vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is an all- too-real threat and that 72% of Americans think we need to take immediate steps to deal with it. What counts for Bush are not the millions of concerned Americans, but the millions of campaign dollars put in his pockets by the corporate polluters causing the warming—oil companies, electric utilities, automakers, and others.
In return, Bush has put energy execs, lobbyists, and consultants in key positions to oversee U.S. energy policy. How embarrassing, then, that George’s own EPA scientists issued a report concluding that global warming is real, that it’s mostly caused by fossil-fuel pollution, and that it will be disastrous for our planet if we don’t act promptly to stop it. Rather than act—or even act embarrassed—Bush dismissed the report, saying scornfully: “I read the report put out by the bureaucracy.”
His press flack later admitted that W hadn’t in fact read it: “Whenever presidents say they read it, you can read that to be: ‘He was briefed.’”
Thanks. But in George’s case, we know we can read that to mean he was bought—no brief necessary.