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NASA 2
Wed Jun 16, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I’m Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook. In the politics of climate change, the
present administration has been adamant in its opposition to the Kyoto Protocols. I
spoke with Sean O’Keefe, NASA administrator, about how his organization interprets
the president’s stand on our warming planet. He agreed with Mr. Bush in that the
country shouldn’t be adopting what he believes is an idealistic climate policy without
having enough data. He would prefer to see what he calls "enforceable policies."
BY: What are some of the things that you and the Bush Administration would like to do
that you do see as enforceable?
SO: Well, gathering the data is the first big step and from that we’ll understand what
behavior – we as human beings – are engaged in that, in turn, is changing the climate
atmospheric conditions that we live in. Then, you can begin to look at how you
moderate or modify or adjust those behaviors. But it’s informed by the research that
we’re doing right now. And so that’s the approach that the president has advocated all
along is rather than, you know, articulating lofty goals that are wonderful and everybody
can agree to, but have no means whatsoever to have the capacity to actually see a
change and a result as a consequence of some behavior modification.
BY: O’Keefe wants to be careful that policy doesn’t jump the gun on research.
SO: The better bet is to know and be informed by this – now there’s a novel notion --
exactly what the data, the analysis, will tell you is our human behavior that is
exacerbating this set of problems and then go look at the public policy regimes
necessary to adjust that behavior appropriately across the entire international global
expanse. That’s the approach advocated, that’s the one we’re trying to support.
The Weather Notebook is funded by Subaru of America and the National Science
Foundation.
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