Energy: Giving Away the Store

Under the Radar

IRAQ — BUSH SAYS HE WILL IGNORE WILL OF CONGRESS, AMERICAN PEOPLE ON IRAQ ESCALATION PLAN: Newsweek reports, “The White House was surprised when even pro-war senators, including Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), came out against” Bush’s plan for escalation in Iraq. U.S. News adds Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has “lined up as many as a dozen Republicans for a resolution opposing what he branded ‘escalation.'” With opposition in Congress growing, Bush said this weekend that he believes he has the authority to ignore the will of Congress and send more troops to Iraq. A USA Today/Gallup Poll released this week found “more than 6 of 10 people back the idea of a non-binding congressional resolution expressing opposition to Bush’s plan to commit an additional 21,500 U.S. troops to Iraq.” A former senior Bush aide who is still close to the White House says that if the situation in Iraq continues to slide, “a delegation of [conservative] senators could one day show up in the Oval Office to tell Bush that the party is no longer with him and the war must end — much like Sen. William Fulbright’s forcefully urging Lyndon Johnson to bring the Vietnam War to a close.”

ENVIRONMENT – FUNDING CUT FOR GLOBAL WARMING RESEARCH: Last year was the hottest on record. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) last week sent out a press release confirming the link between the warm temperatures and human-induced global warming, stating that a “contributing factor to the unusually warm temperatures throughout 2006 also is the long-term warming trend, which has been linked to increases in greenhouse gases.” This acknowledgment came despite President Bush’s refusal to admit a link between human activities and climate change. A new study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) concludes that the government’s “ability to understand and predict hurricanes, drought and climate changes of all kinds is in danger because of deep cuts facing many Earth satellite programs and major delays in launching some of its most important new instruments.” NASA’s earth science budget has declined 30 percent under the Bush administration and the NOAA, “meanwhile, has experienced enormous cost overruns and schedule delays with its premier weather and climate mission.” NAS co-chairman Richard Anthes noted, “If things aren’t reversed, we will have passed the high-water mark for our Earth observations. … We need to know more, not less, about long-term aspects of climate change.” While Bush has neglected his campaign pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will today introduce a bill to “cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by the middle of the century.” Sanders’s legislation has the backing of 13 leading environmental and government watchdog groups.

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY — REPORT BLASTS BP FOR FAULTY SAFETY PROCEDURES: Safety problems, including the discovery last year of pipeline corrosion in Alaska, have tarnished BP’s “carefully-crafted ‘Beyond Petroleum’ image.” In 2005, an explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery killed 15 people, leading the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to fine the company a record $21.4 million for more than 300 alleged violations. In response, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board “urged BP to create an independent panel to review the corporate safety culture after finding evidence that management may have a lax attitude toward process.” Today, the panel, chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker, will release its “harshly worded and highly critical report.” The report accuses BP of “failing to provide adequate resources to ensure safety at its US refineries.” BP has “not always ensured that it identified and provided the resources required for strong process safety performance at its US refineries,” the report says. “The finding is certain to be used against the company in the many outstanding civil cases against BP” and could add to questions about whether BP “was actually the environmentally friendly company that [former CEO John Browne] said it was.”

Think Fast

“There is almost no scientific evidence to back up the U.S. intelligence community’s use of controversial interrogation techniques in the fight against terrorism, and experts believe some painful and coercive approaches could hinder the ability to get good information, according to a new report from an intelligence advisory group.”

“The U.S. military has sold forbidden equipment at least a half-dozen times to middlemen for countries — including Iran and China — who exploited security flaws in the Defense Department’s surplus auctions,” the AP reports.

“Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said in an interview that Taliban attacks surged by 200 percent in December, and a U.S. military intelligence officer said that since the peace deal went into effect Sept. 5 the number of attacks in the border area has grown by 300 percent.”

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “conveniently ignored Egypt’s internal problems during her visit, which include charges of corruption and torture, to name a few. Rice basically thanked Egypt for its cooperation in the region making it clear that, for the United States, ‘stability, not democracy‘ is the priority.”

34,452: Number of Iraqi civilians killed in 2006, according to the United Nations. More than 36,000 Iraqi civilians were wounded last year.

Rebellion is brewing among conservatives over President’s Bush’s attempt to “impose” Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) as “general chairman” of his political party due to Martinez’s support for “amnesty” for illegal aliens.

Under an ethics reform proposal the House is likely to take up and pass this week, “lawmakers who commit crimes in office may no longer be able to rely on a federal pension to pad their fall from grace.”

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and others argue the Bush administration is “using a little-noticed clause in the Patriot Act to circumvent Senate confirmation” of federal U.S. attorneys. Senators are working to overturn the provision, which “for the first time gave the attorney general, rather than local federal courts, authority to appoint interim U.S. attorneys.”

And finally: The Decider still really likes making decisions. In his interview with 60 minutes, President Bush said “decision” twenty-four times in nine minutes. The chart here “shows how often he said the word during each of the interview’s nine minutes, including two times when he practically shouted it.”