BUSTIN' OUT THE FREON

Wow. Via Kevin Drum, I found [found?? sorry] this site where Ron Suskind (buy that guy a beer!) has been uploading the files he got from Paul O'Neill. Extremely cool.

Sample of this collection's coolness: this letter from Chuck Hegel's office (2/26/2001). The letter starts with six pages of facts and myths on global climate change. Check out this claim:

Health Impacts:

CONTENTION: Future warming will cause serious health affects [sic] by increasing the spread of tropical diseases.

EVIDENCE: Scientific epidemiological studies show that climate has a minimal impact on the rates of disease transmission and human death. The statistically significant factors are the level of economic development, infrastructure, access to health care and potable water, and availability of air conditioning.

I've omitted citations to a few sources, and I haven't checked those sources. Still, about that "availability of air conditioning" part: so global warming won't be a problem as far as diseases are concerned if everyone just has air conditioning. Brilliant. I'm not sure why Carrier Corporation is downsizing. (Seriously, though, how much correlation do you think there is between availability of air conditioning and the other factors mentioned in the section, namely, economic developement and infrastructure?)

I'll bet there are a bunch of folks who are mutilating their Paul O'Neill voodoo dolls as we speak.

Aside from the (shocking?) comic value of these documents, thanks to O'Neill and Suskind for giving us an inside look at how high-level government offices operate -- and at how this administration and its allies have operated.