To the editor:

U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman told Congress last week the Bush administration would continue to oppose a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions, spewed by the United States, the world’s top polluter of the atmosphere.

This is a direct reflection of President Bush’s “republic” upbringing and mindset.

Bush hails from Texas, the Lone Star State. It’s my belief that the state always teaches its school kids about the great days of the “Republic of Texas” – when Texans fought and defeated Santa Anna, the Mexican general who was assigned to protect the large area called Texas from an invasion of “gringos.” It’s glorified extensively in Texas.

Thus Bush has a strong “republic” mindset he has had from a very early age. A mindset that has clouded his thinking and has led to the ill-advised invasion of Iraq and the loss of thousands of lives on both sides.

What does this have to do with global warming?

A republic is an independent state. A state not inclined to conform to the ideals of others. So the United States is led by this independent idealism that worked to the advantage of the U.S. in the 1800s. But guess what – it isn’t the 1800s any longer, and the United States is increasingly viewed worldwide as a kind of “loose cannon” firing indiscriminately at the poor and downtrodden in an attempt to “kill” the rebels as fast as they pop up.

Les Blevins,

Lawrence