Greenhouse and White House - George Bush's refusal to endorse extreme remedies for greenhouse effect

National Review, March 5, 1990

A SPEECH to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is UN-sponsored, President Bush wisely refused to endorse extreme so-called remedies for the "greenhouse effect." This refers to the buildup of gases in the atmosphere, and an expert scientific consensus does exist to the effect that these gases result from the burning of fossil fuels.

After that, there is no consensus. Some predict global warming, the melting of the polar icecaps, and disastrous flooding. Others deny that the gas buildup is especially dramatic. Still others regard it as in fact benign, and having the effect of countering a cyclical global-cooling trend-a Second Ice Age which was the fashionable catastrophe a decade ago.

Environmental concerns are valid, but our approach to them must be case-by-case and analytical. In Chief of Staff John Sununu, Mr. Bush has an informed advisor who will not be stampeded by the end-is-near lobby. He is that rarity among politicians, a trained scientist, and as governor of New Hampshire he saw at first hand the destuctiveness of the environmental fanatics who delayed the Seabrook nuclear-power facility for years, at extravagant cost to the taxpayers and with little basis in fact or reason. Be concerned, but keep alert politically.