By: Andrew C. Revkin
A White House official who once led the oil industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents.
In handwritten notes on drafts of several reports issued in 2002 and 2003, the official, Philip A. Cooney, removed or adjusted descriptions of climate research that government scientists and their supervisors, including some senior Bush administration officials, had already approved. In many cases, the changes appeared in the final reports.
Exxon Helps Formulate US Environmental Policies
By: John Vidal, environment editor
Wednesday June 8, 2005
President George Bush's decision not to sign the United States up to the Kyoto global warming treaty was partly a result of pressure from ExxonMobil, the world's most powerful oil company, and other industries, according to US State Department papers seen by the Guardian.
The documents, which emerged as Tony Blair visited the White House for discussions on climate change before next month's G8 meeting, reinforce widely-held suspicions of how close the company is to the administration and its role in helping to formulate US policy.
Dull, low-level jobs linked to heart problems
Study: Little control over tasks may lead to cardiovascular disease
Updated: 3:46 p.m. ET June 7, 2005
WASHINGTON - Dull, steady, unexciting jobs may make the heart beat in an unchanging, rapid rhythm – which in turn could lead to heart disease, British researchers reported.
They found that men with "low-grade jobs," meaning they had little control over daily tasks, and men in low social positions had faster and less-variable heart rates.
US defense spending half of world total: Swedish report
STOCKHOLM, June 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States' defense expenditure in 2004 accounted for almost half of the global total and exceeded the 32 next most powerful nations combined, a prominent Swedish think tank said Tuesday.
