US Senate climate warming hearing delayed until July
Date: 20-Jun-02
Country: USA
The report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency caused a stir because it aligned the administration for the first time with scientists who believe car emissions, and pollution from power plants and oil refineries are to blame for rising global temperatures.
Previously, President George W. Bush had maintained there was not enough scientific evidence to prove human activities were the main cause. The president raised more questions when he dismissed the report as a product of the federal "bureaucracy."
The Democratic-led Senate Commerce Committee had scheduled a hearing for Thursday to determine if Bush and his top aides supported the new EPA report.
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, a member of the panel, said the Thursday hearing was postponed until July after the administration said top officials from the EPA, Commerce Department and White House were not available to testify.
"Because of several conflicting statements from the White House and the agencies there is a great deal of confusion over the administration's policy," Kerry said in a statement.
"We need to hear from senior officials and not, as the president says, the 'bureaucracy'," he added.
EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman said last week she was not aware of the climate change report until it was sent to the United Nations and published on her agency's web site.
Bush, a former Texas oilman, has said he favors incentives and market-based programs to encourage voluntary pollution cuts by U.S. power plants. The president has been criticized by the European Union, as well as Democrats, for not doing enough to reduce carbon dioxide emissions linked to global warming.
Environmental issues are expected to play an important role in many of the November congressional elections that will determine control of the House and Senate.