Alone on the shrinking ice

By Laurie David
April 21, 2006

THIS IS THE most monumental Earth Day since its inception because the issue of global warming is finally catapulting toward a tipping point.

But the Bush administration is unmoved. It refuses to consider a mandatory cap on carbon dioxide, though even several coal company executives are asking for such action. It won't raise auto fuel economy standards, which are hovering at a 20-year low.

Adding insult to injury, it seeks support for its marginalized views and its shameful inaction by rewriting government climate reports to mislead the American public.

As its allies desert it, the administration seems more and more like a polar bear, standing alone on an ever-shrinking block of ice.