Matters of Opinion

In its lead editorial, "Too little, too late," today's Buffalo News dismisses President Bush's Rose Garden speech on climate change as proof that this administration has wasted eight years in ignoring the issue and making, on the way out, a tepid proposal that would only slow the rate of increase in American greenhouse gases.

Other reactions and follow-ups:
* Reuters had two reports, one from European Union HQ in Brussels and the other from a meeting of big (polluting) nations in Paris. In neither place were officials much impressed by Bush's speech. German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel issued a statement headlined "Gabriel criticises Bush's Neanderthal speech. Losership, not Leadership."
* On the U.K.'s Guardian Unlimited, columnist David Roberts called the speech "a big fat nothingburger."
* The Economist calls its leader [that's Brit for "editorial]" "Lukewarm: The 'toxic Texan' discovers a belated resolve on global warming," and says everyone's just waiting for the Bush term to end to face the problem.
* Writing in The Wall Street Journal, the Cato Institute's Patrick Michaels says all the numbers are a big mess, the necessary technology is not there, and any real reduction in greenhouse gases means we will just have to learn to live with less energy.
* The San Francisco Chronicle notes that, on the same day that Bush was "serving up hollow rhetoric," Californians were eagerly looking for ways to make saving the planet good for business.
* The Seattle Post-Intelligencer suggests that those worried about how much it will cost to cut greenhouse gases might want to compare those expenses to the cost of building huge walls to keep out rising sea levels.
* The Christian Science Monitor notes that, for all the criticism aimed at Bush, any success he has in engaging China to address the issue as well will be a major accomplishment.
* And, on The Atlantic.com, James Gibney figures that the Bush administration, through its protracted war in Iraq, has already cut carbon emissions by increasing the price of gas and pushing people to burn less of it.

--George Pyle/Editorial Writer
(Photo of President Bush delivering climate change speech: Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP)