This is another politics is stupid post. As we've seen repeatedly, most recently in the NOLA fiasco, federal government department heads are not the sharpest knives in the drawer. They are ceremonial weapons that fail when you try to actually use them. For example:

Six former heads of the Environmental Protection Agency, including five who served Republican presidents, said Wednesday that the Bush administration needs to act more aggressively to limit the emission of greenhouse gases linked to climate change. . .

The agency's Annual Energy Outlook for 2006, which was released last month, showed that carbon emissions from inside the United States are projected to increase by 37 percent by 2030. . .

What are the projected increases for other nations? What are the projections for the world? If US emissions didn't increase at all by 2030 would that have any affect on climate? They are making nonsense arguments by considering only a single nation and by not considering the nature of global climate change over long periods due to long lived emissions and the lag time between emission and the full effect including feedback from the warmed environment.

Lee M. Thomas, the agency administration in the second Reagan administration, said the time had come for environmental and industry groups, the usual antagonists in environmental policy, to set aside their differences in favor of a plan like the one used to curb the effects of acid rain.

"This is the same kind of situation," Mr. Thomas said. "We've got to start on this action. We can't wait."

No, it is not the same kind of situation. This guy is clearly a tard. Acid rain is local. It results from local emissions and affects localities. Only a tiny percentage of acid rain comes from distant emissions. It's the kind of problem that can be dealt with on the small scale of a state, region or nation. More importantly the effects are immediate since the pollutants don't linger in the atmosphere for years and years. Recovery is prolonged since the acid lingers in the soil and water for a long time until it is neutralized, but the rain stops.

The current EPA chief is a dutiful flack catcher, as were the others when they held the position.

[current agency chief, Stephen L.] Johnson defended the agency's current policies, saying it has invested $20 billion since 2001 in research and technologies designed to cut carbon emissions through dozens of programs.

This is a much smarter response though it is doubtful that it is done for that reason or even understood by the politicians currently in charge. But that doesn't change the fact that to do anything significant about climate change we need new technologies and a far better understanding of the problem. We have only the vaguest understanding of the ecosphere including the climate system, and primitive energy systems. We still burn dirt for gopod's sake!

There is no real significance to the opinions of these politicians. They don't speak with insight about the issues. They may have insights about politics and civil service ass covering and such since that is their profession, but that isn't the subject. Or perhaps it is . . .