Swimming Upstream
The Seattle Times reports that energy isn't the only policy where likeminded friends of this administration have a "helping" hand:

In a new, narrower interpretation of the Endangered Species Act, the Bush administration yesterday said for the first time that it wants to safeguard as "critical" only those waterways currently occupied by salmon and steelhead — not areas that might be considered part of a fish's historic range.

The plan isn't scheduled to become final until next summer.

The move comes as the administration, in a separate action, finished a Columbia River Basin salmon plan that concludes major hydroelectric dams no longer jeopardize the survival of wild fish runs. That means federal fishery officials have officially dropped dam removal as an option in the multibillion-dollar effort to recover the basin's wild salmon and steelhead, reversing a Clinton administration decision made four years ago.

Administration officials said these changes would have little impact on efforts to recover more than three dozen runs of salmon and steelhead in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. But they were unable to pinpoint which fish species — or which river systems — would see the most dramatic changes in habitat protections.

Officials acknowledged that Mark Rutzick, a lawyer who had sued the government over salmon protections for years on behalf of the timber industry, helped design the habitat plan. Last spring, Rutzick was appointed a special counsel to the fisheries service for salmon recovery.

Speaking of the environment, the Observer in London has an article regarding a conservative think tank once again claiming that global warming (or, in their terminology, climate change) is a fallacy--and could even benefit humankind:

The International Policy Network will publish its long-awaited study, claiming that the science warning of an environmental disaster caused by climate change is 'fatally flawed'. It will state that previous predictions of changes in sea level of a metre over the next 100 years were overestimates.

Instead, the report will say that sea level rises will reach a maximum of just 20cms during the next century, adding that global warming could, in fact, benefit mankind by increasing fish stocks.

The report's views closely mirror those held by many of President George Bush's senior advisers, who have been accused of derailing attempts to reach international agreement over how to prevent climate change.

The report is set to cause controversy. The network, which has links with some of the President's advisers, has received cash donations from the US oil giant ExxonMobil, which has long lobbied against the climate change agenda. Exxon lists the donation as part of its 'climate change outreach' programme.

And here's a bit from the IPN press release:

The blueprint concludes that the poor are currently the most vulnerable to disease, flooding, droughts, and other catastrophic natural events. While climate change may make these worse tomorrow, empowering the poor will enable them to improve their lives and reduce their vulnerability today and in the future.

Barun Mitra, Director of the Liberty Institute in New Delhi and one of the authors, says that the Kyoto Protocol and similar attempts to control the climate through restricting emissions of ‘greenhouse gases’ would do nothing to help the poor. ‘The Kyoto Protocol intends to prevent possible problems of tomorrow for the rich world, but people in the poor world must survive today.’

Mr. Mitra said that poor countries continue to suffer from problems that have been eliminated in wealthy countries. ‘A million Indians die every year from indoor air pollution -- not because they consume too much energy, but because they lack access to modern energy sources.’