At a time when the American people, the newly elected Congress, and business leaders are calling for solutions to global warming, the President has once again failed to deliver. A year after he publicly admitted our nation's addiction to oil, the President tonight proposed a series of energy initiatives that won't address this dependency or the climate crisis facing the planet. This comes a week before the release of the United Nation’s latest assessment of the science of global warming.

Instead of creating a real national plan to combat global warming and increase energy security, the President has ensured his legacy of failure while continuing to represent the interests of the energy industry. Today, the President proposed an alternative fuels proposal that could actually increase global warming pollution along with a fuel efficiency program for automobiles that lacks any real targets.

Scientists repeatedly warn that the U.S. must reduce its global warming pollution 80 percent by mid-century if we are to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change. A growing number of states, corporations and Congressional leaders have endorsed that goal. The President’s proposals do nothing to put us on that course. The American people and the world community deserve much better and it is available through existing technology, which the President chooses to ignore.

While the expectations were high for this speech as speculation swirled of a change in policy in the White House, the rumors were inaccurate. The international community should abandon all hope, once and for all, that President Bush will ever really change course on climate change.

It is clear that Bush is incapable of leading his country to face the challenge of climate change, now the best he can do is to follow the American people who understand the need for action.

I am at home with my family enjoying this wonderful, hard-won Federal holiday celebrating Dr. King, one of the greatest Americans.  I've been to memorial church services and listening to his speeches on the radio, as I do every year at this time of year.  As for Greenpeace, we borrowed much from King's non-violent civil disobedience in our own tactics that we use in 40 countries around the world.  Fortunately, there was no patent on this technique as King and the Civil Rights Movement took the concept of non-violent civil disobedience from Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian Independence Movement.  Beyond all that, I love MLK, Jr. Day for two reasons.

 1.  The three greatest Americans: Washington, Lincoln and King. Washington, landed gentry and owner of slaves, takes America from subject of the king to "by the people and for the people." His massive land holdings and gentleman's pedigree made it possible to lead us from monarchy to democracy.   Next is Lincoln.  The first "man of the people,"  self-taught, won the Civil War and expanded Washington's experiment by freeing the slaves.  And then there's King.  Working even outside the official tracks open to a poor white boy like Lincoln.  He takes a Biblical interpretation of love and turns it into the most powerful force on earth, the Civil Rights Movement.  These may be the three greatest Americans of all time.

2.   The second reason is that the capitalists haven't taken over MLK Day just yet.  No big sales.  I don't have to worry about getting people the right gifts.  Just a day off to think about what happened in the 1950s and 1960s and what we still need to do.  So I think about this holiday as one that will become a really big one with our growing population of pro-Civil Rights hispanics in this country. Sure we drink beer and shoot off fireworks on July 4, but MLK Day?  Could grow to be much bigger.  Count on it.

Rave on,

John Passacantando