James Baker: Take Global Warming Seriously
Posted on March 4, 2005
Former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker has argued for a serious look into alternative energies. Reuters reports that while speaking to the Houston Forum Club, Baker said, "It may surprise you a little bit, but maybe it's because I'm a hunter and a fisherman, but I think we need to a pay a little more attention to what we need to do to protect our environment. When you have energy companies like Shell and British Petroleum, both of which are perhaps represented in this room, saying there is a problem with excess carbon dioxide emission, I think we ought to listen."
Reuters reports that Baker said it is time to start an "orderly" move towards alternative energy sources. Baker served in the cabinet of George Bush Senior and represented George W. Bush in the controversial 2000 elections. The Bush Administration has refused to acknowledege that global warming is a threat -- often ignoring evidence and warnings from organizations like NASA, the Woods Hole Research Center and even the Pentagon. The Bush Administration has also pursued plans, like the Clear Skies Initiative, that environmental groups say greatly weaken the existing Clean Air Act. The Sierra Club calls the Clear Skies plan a Bush smokescreen to weaken the Clean Air Act and allow more pollution.