Cap and Trade? to Oval Office ages presidents...

From American Progress:

Think Fast...

The Environmental Defense Fund released a report on the eve of Earth Day "that suggests implementing a cap-and-trade program to cut greenhouse gas emissions would not slow the U.S. economy or cost jobs, contradicting a report released recently by a group of manufacturers that oppose a climate change bill." Overall, the report says that "the economy would continue to grow at an average clip of 3 percent."

69 percent: Americans who disapprove of the job Bush is doing. "The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.”

At least two dozen detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere "say they were given drugs against their will or witnessed other inmates being drugged." The allegations have resurfaced since the release this month of a 2003 Justice Department memo by former DOJ official John Yoo "that explicitly condoned the use of drugs on detainees."

In a speech last night at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Defense Secretary Robert Gates "said he believes Iran is 'hell bent' on acquiring nuclear weapons," but he warned that "another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need and, in fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels." Despite his warning, Gates said he "favors keeping the military option against Iran on the table."

"For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American women." "This is a story about smoking, blood pressure and obesity," said study co-author Majid Ezzati of the Harvard Initiative for Global Health.

According to Pentagon records, "the Army has accelerated its policy of involuntary extensions of duty" -- known as "stop-loss" -- "to bolster its troop levels, despite Defense Secretary Robert Gates' order last year to limit it." Since May 2007, "the number of soldiers forced to remain in the Army rose 43% to 12,235 in March."

And finally: Being president "really takes its toll." Pop Photo has designed a feature mimicking the "ravages of time" and allowing people to "see how the current candidates would fare after a term in the Oval Office." Full results here.

Wrap...