NYT: Bush Climate Plan Rated Somewhat Improved (?)

[DeepModem Mom]

Bush Climate Plan Rated Somewhat Improved
By ANDREW C. REVKIN

Published: February 19, 2004

President Bush's plan for clarifying the causes and effects of climate change has been improved over the past year but can succeed only if the research is shielded from political pressures and if more money is spent on it, an independent panel of experts said yesterday.

Administration officials, who requested the outside review of the plan, welcomed the findings, but said no significant budget increases were possible. They said climate research goals would be met mainly through improved organization....

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The federal government currently spends about $1.7 billion a year on climate research, officials said, and there are no significant shifts in spending in the administration's 2005 budget.

The panel, assembled by the National Research Council of the National Academies, the country's leading scientific advisory group, said there was an urgent need to move from planning an expanded push in federal climate research to financing it and moving ahead.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/19/politics/19CLIM.html