How to Cool Down Global Warming

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Drawing on documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Rolling Stone details the Bush administration's "ongoing strategy to block federal action on global warming." In 2002, the administration's Climate Action Report was reported on as a "stark shift" in U.S. policy. An alarmed Philip Cooney, then at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, contacted Myron Ebell of the ExxonMobil-funded think tank the Competitive Enterprise Institute. "We tried to put some qualifiers ... in the report," fretted Cooney. "I know you're in crisis mode," Ebell replied. "I want to help you cool things down, but ... I think that what we can do is limited until there is an official statement from the administration repudiating the report." Bush released a statement the next day. Karl Rove also helped spin the Climate Action Report, writing on a letter drafted by Cooney, "Great ... defends the report rather than staying focused on the policy."