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1977 Political Interference Cartoon

This year the biggest political target was Global Warming Theory on this the 10th Anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol with the U.S. the Last Country Not to Sign treaty. While ExxonMobil offered $10k to any scientist who would dispute the IPCC report, it was the Bush Whitehouse that made the most obtuse attacks on science.

From warning Government Employees Traveling around the Artic not to discuss climate change or polar bears, to Interior Officials Overriding Work of Scientists, to the Whitehouse editing the CDC’s Climate Change Testimony (you can read the redacted Testimony here), it was a status quo effort to oppress truths unfavorable to George Bush’s political ideology and corporate supporters. His presidency has so distorted science, that former surgeon general, Richard Carmona (2002-2006), came out to testify that the Bush Administration was, the most partisan, vindictive, and mean-spirited of any administration when it came to distorting science for political gain.

LOL Quack George Bush

Al Gore was the big name this year, following the success of his film, An Inconvenient Truth, by testifying before Congress and finally exposing Senator Inhofe for the uneducated bafoon that he is. He weathered attacks on his character, his lifestyle, errors in his film, and accusations that it’s all part of a ploy to run for president. He organized the Live Earth Concert, which was of dubious benefit, but Gore and the IPCC winning the Nobel Peace Prize was a fantastic victory. Al Gore is thoroughly enjoying his power as Ambassador to the World, as was seen when he led a shadow U.S. Delegation to the Bali Climate Change talks, usurping George Bush’s authority before the world.

Most promising of all, was the way the political climate changed this year. Newt Gingrich and John Kerry came from opposite sides of the political aisle to hold a debate on Global Warming that accepted it as reality and focused on how best to solve it. The Senate Panel passed a Bill to Limit Greenhouse Gases and the Senate passed a Watered-Down energy bill, the first step in the Federal government acknowledging the crisis. U.S. States signed a Global Warming Pact and California won the right to limit cars’ emissions in court (until Bush’s EPA struck down mileage standards).

There’s nothing solid yet, and we still have a year of the Bush Administration remaining to stifle action, but this year the American Government finally started talking about Global Warming and Alternative Energies, so now science can’t help but win. The truth doesn’t stop being the truth just because politicians reject it.