ACCORDING to the annual Climate Change Performance Index published this fortnnight , the United States has third-worst record on tackling greenhouse gas emissions, just beating Saudi Arabia. Annual greenhouse emissions are now 17 percent higher than they were in 1990. The Bush environmental record will be remembered as one that placed politics over science, neutered international efforts, and allowed big industry to shape policy. President-elect Obama has shown that he intends to fill the void created by Bush and will allow science to dictate policy.

Today, reports indicate that Obama will select Dr. Steven Chu as Secretary of Energy, Carol Browner as head of the new National Energy Council, and Lisa Jackson as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator. Nancy Sutley, Los Angeles's deputy mayor for energy and environment, will chair Obama's Council on Environmental Quality. Although Chu "is likely to focus his attention on the Energy Department's core missions: basic science, nuclear weapons and cleaning up a nuclear-weapons manufacturing complex contaminated since the Cold War," his selection is a strong signal of Obama's progressive intentions for science-based climate policy. If confirmed, the new team will be working closely with leaders in Congress such as Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the new chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, to forge a new path in solving the climate crisis. Commenting on Obama's personnel selections, CAP's Director of Climate Strategy Daniel J. Weiss said, "After the anti-science Bush administration, this is like going to a Mensa meeting after eight years of being trapped in the Flat Earth Society."

SCIENCE IS BACK: The choice of Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, is a clear signal from Obama that he intends to restore the role of science in climate policy (Bush's first Department of Energy (DOE) head, Spencer Abraham, had previously advocated abolishing the department). Chu is the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a DOE-funded research institute, where he is on a "mission" to make the lab "the world leader in alternative and renewable energy research, particularly the development of carbon-neutral sources of energy." He was an early advocate of finding scientific solutions to climate change. As Chu explained at this summer's National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, the best way to reduce greenhouse emissions is to reduce energy consumption by investing in energy efficiency -- policies that are congruent with Obama's stated goals. Furthermore, given the Bush administration's history of obstruction at international climate summits, the global community will likely welcome Chu's selection. As one of 30 members of the Copenhagen Climate Council, Chu is currently part of an effort to push the international community to have the "urgency to establish a global treaty by 2012 which is fit for the purpose of limiting global warming to 2ºC."

THE FIRST 'ENERGY CZAR': The Center for American Progress Action Fund's Change For America blueprint for a progressive administration recommends a National Energy Council to shape "both policy and strategic options with respect to energy and climate change." Aides said while the exact role is still under development, Browner would coordinate administration policy across departments and advocate for policies on Capitol Hill. "In her new role, Browner will need her legislative and administrative experience in a job that will cover everything from climate change to energy policy," the Washington Post notes today. Browner, a former aide to Al Gore, was the longest-serving administrator of the EPA, where she successfully beat back conservative efforts to gut safeguards from pollution. She is currently on the Board of Directors of CAP, Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, and the National Brownfield Association. Speaking at CAP on Dec. 1, Browner proposed cap-and-trade solutions to global warming that would drive economic growth, observing, "What the government is doing is creating a market opportunity."

As the government's chief regulator of air quality, the EPA plays a pivotal role in formulating global warming policy. Thus, perhaps the most important climate policy position will be the new EPA Administrator, who will spearhead efforts to revive an agency torn apart by the abysmal leadership of Administrator Stephen Johnson. Jackson, a chemical engineer, recently led the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). At DEP, Jackson has had a mixed record, earning praise for her work ethic but also criticism for her difficulties achieving the department's mission. Jackson has "worked to pass mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases, to reform the state's cleanup of contaminated sites and to establish a scientific advisory board to review agency decisions," the AP noted today. But the agency has suffered from budget cuts and the loss of thousands of staff positions. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) argued that the DEP has engaged in "suppression of scientific information, issuance of gag orders," and "closed-door deal-making with regulated industry executives and lobbyists." Vouching for Jackson's environmental credentials, Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) told The Progress Report that she "is absolutely committed to the kind of clean-up that some her critics would say she should have done more of." He added, "I think Lisa has done a remarkable job of trying to move the environmental agenda forward within a constrained world.

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Sri Lankan Government Abuses Anti-Terror Laws to Muzzle the Media

THE Sri Lankan government should immediately drop charges and free J.S. Tissainayagam, a prominent Tamil journalist on trial for his writings, Human Rights Watch has demanded . A Tamil publisher, N. Jasiharan, and his wife, V. Valamathy, who were also arbitrarily arrested, should be freed immediately.

"The Sri Lankan government is shamefully using antiterrorism laws to silence peaceful critics in the media," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "This is no way for a government that claims to be a rights-respecting democracy to act."

Tissainayagam, a columnist with the Sunday Times newspaper and editor of the Outreach website, was arrested by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the police on March 7, 2008. The previous day, the terrorist investigation unit had arrested Jasiharan, the owner of E-Kwality press, and Valamathy. Tissainayagam and Jasiharan are co-directors of the company Outreach Multimedia. Valamathy has no official role with the company.

On August 25, more than five months after Tissainayagam's arrest, prosecutors charged him under the country's Emergency Regulations and the Prevention of Terrorism Act for printing and distributing the North Eastern Monthly magazine, of which he was previously an editor, and for aiding and abetting terrorist organizations through raising money for the magazine. He is currently on trial before the High Court in Colombo.

Tissainayagam's indictment cites two of his writings from the North Eastern Monthly. In a July 2006 editorial, under the headline, "Providing security to Tamils now will define northeastern politics of the future," Tissainayagam wrote: "It is fairly obvious that the government is not going to offer them any protection. In fact it is the state security forces that are the main perpetrator of the killings."
The charges against Tissainayagam also include part of a November 2006 article on the military offensive in Vaharai, in the east, which said:

"Such offensives against the civilians are accompanied by attempts to starve the population by refusing them food as well as medicines and fuel, with the hope of driving out the people of Vaharai and depopulating it. As this story is being written, Vaharai is being subject to intense shelling and aerial bombardment."

Human Rights Watch said that the written passages over which Tissainayagam has been charged reflect mere opinions about the conduct of the armed conflict between the government and the LTTE, which is seeking an independent Tamil homeland. The rights to freedom of opinion and expression are protected under article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Sri Lanka is a party. Although the covenant allows for certain restrictions on freedom of expression on grounds of national security, the terms of any such restriction must be specific and narrowly tailored to prevent against arbitrariness and to ensure that the internationally recognized human rights of all individuals are protected.

Human Rights Watch expressed concern for the safety of all three detainees. Since November 18, the authorities have held Tissainayagam in the Magazine prison in Colombo, which houses 140 convicted criminals. Upon his transfer there, Tissainayagam was threatened by other inmates.
Jasiharan and Valamathy have also come under threat. On November 25 and 26, Jasiharan's family in Batticaloa received calls demanding Rs.100,000 (approximately US$900) in return for his safety. The caller threatened that if payment was not made within three days, Jasiharan would be killed in prison. The family has filed a complaint with the police. Human Rights Watch has also learned that Valamathy is in the female ward in the Colombo prison with 110 other prisoners, the majority of whom are convicted criminals. The international covenant provides for the separation of accused persons from persons convicted of crimes.

None of the three detainees has had adequate access to counsel. Police officers have been present during Tissainayagam's discussions with his lawyers, violating his right to communicate and consult with a lawyer in full confidentiality. The three have filed a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court challenging the legality of their continued detention.

Article 14 of the Sri Lankan constitution enshrines the right to freedom of speech. However, since 2006 the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse has increasingly intimidated and tried to silence the media, nongovernmental organizations, and others with independent or dissenting views of the government's military policies and human rights practices. Senior government officials have attacked such critics as supporters of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and traitors of the state.

"The government's disregard for the basic rights and well-being of three well-known detainees raises even greater concerns for the hundreds of others detained under the security laws," Adams said.

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