-09/24/2003 19:57 FAX a [0O1

OFFICE OF TUE CHIEF OF STAFF

(202) 456'698 - Phone(202) 456-1907 - Fax (

September 24, 2003

TO: Jim Connaughton, David Hobbs, Ziad Ojadil, Harriet Miers

FAX NUMBER: 62710,61806,66468

FROM: Melissa Bennett

TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES:

Messaee:

Letter from Senator Lieberman to Sec. Card.

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WASHINGTON, DC 20510-5250

September 24',2003

mr. Andrew H. card, Yr.Chief of Staff to the PresidentExecutive Office of the President1600 Peinnsylvania Avenue, NW.Washington, DC 20500

Dear MA& Cards

I write to express my conoern about coomMUnicalions tha have recently come to light

between high.-ranking White House staff anid the Competitive Enterprise bnstituzte (CEl), a

conservative think-tank, regarding a May 2002 report on global wanrning submitted to the United

Nations by the State Department. As you kniow, that report was at-odds with Bush

Administration efforts to reject mounting evidence of the serious effects of climate change. A

Tune 3, 2002 emnail from Myron Ebell, Director of Global Wanning and Bnvironmental Policy at

CEL to Phihp, Cooney, Chief of Staff for the White House's Counicil on Enviromnenrtal Quality

(CEQ), appeal to show efforts by Mr. Cooney to use GEI, an outside group, to discredit settlcd

and offcial scientific conclusions regarding climate change.

The U.S. Climate Action Report was issued in May 2002 by the Ulnited States pursuant to

its obligations under the United Nations F~ramework Convention on Climate Change in 1992.

The Climate Action Report relied to a signifoanX extent on the National Assessment of the

Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, which was published in 2000 by the

Clinton Administration after a decade of study. Bothi these reports recognized that increasing

concentratioiis of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere were causing the Earth to warm. Both also

Warned that the winnig temperatures would have dire environmental consequences. These

alarnring fmxdings provide additional evidence that we must make evory effort to reduce our

nation's greenhouse gas emissions. Such a pumuit however, is contrary to the :Bush

Administration's short-.sighted goals of increasing the use and production of trad~itionaal fossil

fuels without regard to the long-texm effbct on the planet. Thus, when asked about the May 2002

Climate Action Report, President Bush dismissed it as having been "pVnt out by the bureaucracy,"

while reaffinningbhis ow nvironmentally hostile approach, (George Archibald and Carter

Dougherty, "'Bush Pans Kyoto as 1apan OKS Pact; EPA Diverges From President's Views,"Washington Times, June 5, 2002-)

The June 3, 2002 CE.I-CEQ email, which was produced as a. result of a Freedom of

Information Act request by Attorneys General from Cornneotiout, Massachusetts and Maine, wasapparently written in response to a telephone call to Mr. Ebell of CB1 from Mr. Cooney of CEQ

requesting "help"in dealing with the poLitical fallout from the Climiate Action Report. In the

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Mr Andrew R. card, Jr.Septembcr 24, 2003Page 2

em"i, Mr- E-bell indicates his8 understanding of Mr. Cooney's request-thtC!ibenakd"to clean up the mess" - and eXp-resses some doubt a's to "whether we have the resources to cleanup this One.-" NO Other eMail exchanges between these paxties have been released.

Howe'vcr, On August 6, 20039, CBI file a lawsuit against the Administration to invalidatethe National Assessment of the Potential Consequenes of Climate Vaxiability and Change -published in 2000 by the ClfntOn Administration after a decade of study - which fonned thebasis for many of the conclusions in the Climate- Action Report. The suzit is apparently anattempt to heave the National Assessment (and therefore the Climate Action Report) withdrawn.

The June 3, 2002 email suggests that CEQ may have worked with CEI in forming astrategy to "'clcan up the me$$" left by the Cnlae Action Report. This lawsuit may have, beenSu YteAmnsrto a b etma ota anIhp ht h0jwuAdmmfation is in a Position to defend these of fiia U.S. conclusions on climate change isnothereslt f a colusve lanoonciv~i y 'I in concert with the Administration it'sel±I olbe wrong in any circumstance, to reject the well-founded fidnso teNtjnI se et~ boutdfor the Administration to use an outside group to purSue fiuch an il-Oneivedgoual woud esstetdo)ubly wrong and could also be abuse of the courts at the expense of the, taxpayers.

I call upon the Admn~ixstration to clea this matter up by explaining what help, exactly,Mx. Cooney was seetkiz9, Prompting Mr. Bbell to sand the June 3, 2002 emaiL I also call uponthe White House to clear the record once ad for all by publicly disrlsn l ht o~c-ontacts with CEI 10garding the issue of global warming fromn May 1, 2002, to the present."Contacts" include all commiunicatiogs includin meetings, onersations, telephone calls,emails; letters, Or tfasimiles. Please provide the namps of all people who participated in eachcontact between CMI and White House staff in which global watn~ing was addressed, Thisincludes providing the names of aln people present at relevant meetings or convestos lthose who authored or received relev ant dorume=t (such as cmails or lettes), and all those whomaade or received relevant telephone calls. Please provide me copies of all documents evidencingor regarding communications with CE! addressing global warming from May 1,202t hpresent.202tth

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Nk. Andrew R Card, Jr.September 24, 2003Page 3

Thank YOU for Your sassiatweie with this matter. I look forward to your timely response,but please provide the informationi requested no later than October 10, 2003. Feel free to canl mewith any questions, or have your staff vall Cynthia Lesser of my staff at 202-224-2627.

Sincerely,

phi, LiebermauRanking Minority Member

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