Twenty two years ago, on this day, May 7, 2001, George “W” Bush’s spokesman was telling the truth.
“The President believes that it’s an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policy-makers to protect [it]. The American way of life is a blessed one . . . The President also believes that the American people’s use of energy is a reflection of the strength of our economy, of the way of life that the American people have come to enjoy.”
https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/briefings/20010507.htm
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 374ppm. As of 2023 it is 420ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that George Bush had pulled the US out of the negotiations for the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. The September 11 attacks were still four months away (Bush basically read about them, was warned about them over the summer and did nowt).
Anyway, this idea that the American way of life, which is actually about the high hydrocarbon way of life for a minority of people within the US, – the wealthy, is somehow sacred. It’s fascinating from a theological point of view, prosperity, gospel and all that nonsense.
See also Bush Snr “American way of life is non-negotiable” in 1992.
What I think we can learn from this
Humans are very good, at pretending things that give them comfort and power are somehow ordained by a bearded sky god. It can form a last redoubt of “Oh, you don’t respect my beliefs as a member of the faith-based community?” (Well, no, I’m a member of the reality based community.)
What happened next
Bush continued to shit all over the planet. And in my fantasy, he’s in the next cell along to John Howard, at The Hague to be charged with crimes against humanity and future generations…
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.