Bush has given us a new drinking game: Down a shot whenever the President uses the word "technology" in a climate speech. You'd get 19 shots for yesterday's 21 minute speech!
As predicted, Bush closely follows the Frank Luntz playbook on how to seem like you care about the climate when you don't. Bush stated the basic do-nothing message well:
Our investments in research and technology are bringing the world closer to a remarkable breakthrough -- an age of clean energy where we can power our growing economies and improve the lives of our people and be responsible stewards of the earth the Almighty trusted to our care.
Translation: "If we had those technologies today, then maybe we could take genuine action now. But, darn it, people, we don't. We can't grow the economy and be responsible stewards of the earth quite yet. We are close, though, so be patient already and stop with all those calls for mandatory regulation. Sheesh!"
Since this is the main message of the shrewd Luntz-led delayers, who realized years ago it could be politically dangerous to be seen as opposing all action on global warming, let me repeat Luntz's advice from his 2002 and 2005 memos to conservatives [both must-reads for progressives]. In his 2002 "Straight Talk" memo on climate change messaging, he writes:
Technology and innovation are the key in arguments on both sides. Global warming alarmists use American superiority in technology and innovation quite effectively in responding to accusations that international agreements such as the Kyoto accord could cost the United States billions. Rather than condemning corporate America the way most environmentalists have done in the past, they attack us for lacking faith in our collective ability to meet any economic challenges presented by environmental changes we make. This should be our argument. We need to emphasize how voluntary innovation and experimentation are preferable to bureaucratic or international intervention and regulation.
This is what I call the technology trap, where clean energy technology is used to delay action, rather than to foster action, on climate change.
Luntz reiterated this point in an early 2005 strategy document "An Energy Policy for the 21st Century": "Innovation and 21st-century technology should be at the core of your energy policy." Luntz repeated the word "technology" thirty times in that document.
In an April 2005 speech describing his proposed energy policy, Bush repeated the word "technology" more than forty times. This time Business Week recognized that Bush was following Luntz's script and noted "what's most striking about Bush's Apr. 27 speech is how closely it follows the script written by Luntz earlier this year." The article also pointed out "the President's failure to propose any meaningful solutions." Indeed the article's headline was unusally blunt for the much-maligned MSM:
Bush Is Blowing Smoke on Energy
Hitting all the points in a noted GOP pollster's playbook, the President's plan is driven by politics not policy. Worse, it won't cut oil dependency.
Can we get some similarly cogent press coverage of Bush's climate speech today?
This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Gore on the Daily Show: extended dance remix
The must-read solutions book by Al Gore
Comments
View as Flat
Delay And Deny Posted 3:30 pm
29 Sep 2007
The problem is...all rational people know that the climate is beyond the influence of Man.
However, Al Gore, the Fool, has hopped up the hoi polloi into a frenzy because of his anger at being unelectable.
Now we have to listen to screeching boobs going on and on about CO2.
The only thing to do is make up a lot of stuff about technology in the hopes the hive will settle down and go back to their jobs...including Al Gore.
John Bailo
Sutext:
Permalink
Earth Shaman Posted 4:26 pm
29 Sep 2007
Earth Shaman
Permalink
GreyFlcn Posted 4:42 pm
29 Sep 2007
We lost 6 men when a "P-Team" took down our office in Indianapolis to get that material from us.
Ah this is rather revealing about your perspective on things.
Paranoid Conspiracies
Hydrogen = Works
Second Law of Thermodynamics = Doesn't Exist
_
By chance, is this you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_Ebzlx6toA
Permalink
trock Posted 11:50 am
30 Sep 2007
Permalink
Earth Shaman Posted 3:21 pm
30 Sep 2007
Earth Shaman
Permalink
amazingdrx Posted 11:34 pm
30 Sep 2007
Any political capital spent will be used for healthcare in the next administration. Our issue is not as simple as the anti war issue.
The failure of high minded environmentalists to join in the low occupation of grass roots party politics has already sunk any chance to turn '08 election cycle into an environmental call to arms.
Even though the technology is already here to solve the economic, GHG, oil war, and nuclear proliferation war problems. The media focus has moved on.
When you hear the blahs all about the fabulous hydrogen economy or fuel farming or clean coal or nuclear power...
Remember the jeep and the liberty ships. Plugin hybrids, solar collectors, and wind machines are analogous to WW 2 winning technology. Geothermal heating/cooling could save 36% of our GHG production.
Minimizing and ignoring GHG climate problems is working to divert and delay any action What will be the next event to bring the focus back onto GHG climate disaster? Doubling gasoline, electricity,and/or natural gas prices? More huge storms? Heat, drought, and fire storm? Right beside record floods?
I think the degeneration of this blog into trolling highlights the fact that public attention is passing over the GHG issue. Led by the tabloid mass delusional media.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
Permalink
charlesjustice Posted 5:49 am
01 Oct 2007
hey'd like everybody to think that they're no longer problems but of course that's only going to happen in their fantasies.
What amazes me, amazingdrx, is what an incredible opportunity global warming gives us to turn the tables on conservatives and define the issues for the forseeable future. They had their chance to define the issues and look where it got them. We've got a real issue here and it's not going to go away no matter how much some people want it to. It's going to get bigger and bigger and its going to make the deniers and delayers look pathetic in hindsight. How can you argue with the weather. The Republicans, except for the Govenator, are painting themselves into a corner over global warming. It's their shortsightedness that's got them into defining global warming as a left-right issue. More power to us.
Charles Justice
Permalink
amazingdrx Posted 1:38 pm
01 Oct 2007
As with the war, the opposition has dug itself into a deep hole on GHG disaster. A fox (news) hole, so to speak.
The problem is the urgency. And the tendency for politicians and mass media to serve their corporate masters. And for corporastists to only care about the next quarter bottomline.
How much will be lost by the time the media has a nice tabloidish spin on it again. Like the Katrina coverage. Make climate change tabloid friendly and coverage will return.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
Permalink