A new report by the Inspector General claims that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promoted the use of coal ash without properly analyzing the risks. Coal ash is the byproduct produced when coal is burned, also referred to as “fly ash” or “bottom ash.”

The EPA began promoting the “recycling” of coal ash waste during the Bush administration, when energy companies and federal officials worked out a deal where the EPA would allow companies to sell their waste without federal oversight. The EPA held numerous town hall meetings last year to get citizens’ input on the matter before they issue a ruling on whether or not the coal ash waste should be considered “hazardous.”

DeSmogBlog and Polluter Watch published a report last year that details the lobbying blitz launched by coal producers to fend off EPA oversight of hazardous coal ash, including the suspiciously cozy relationship between the coal industry and the Bush EPA. The new Inspector General report confirms that the Bush EPA erred in its review of the safety of the widespread re-use of coal ash in many products and other applications.

After a week at the UNFCCC Conference in Bali, the international press reports slow progress on creating a follow-on agreement for the Kyoto Protocol, bemoaning that:

rich countries like US … Japan and Canada have led the campaign for the complete dismantling of the existing regime."

President Bush is trying hard to polish his image on global warming, but buried in his fancy talk about setting long-term goals for reducing emissions by mid- 2008, the U.S. president’s core message is still the same – don’t dare mess with economic growth.

Instead of binding limits on greenhouse-gas emissions, favored by the United Nations and many countries, he’s still pushing a voluntary approach on climate change and lobbying some of the world’s biggest polluters to rally behind him.

This week, students from around the world will be gathering at UK's National History Museum's Student Summit 2006 to discuss different aspects of climate change.

Opening the Summit will be the UK's Chief Scientfic Advisor, Sir David King. "The latest scientific data confirm what many of us have long suspected: climate change is already happening, and human emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, together with deforestation, are the culprit," says King.