Posted on National Review Online
Ramesh,
I fear this is likely to be another Harriet Miers/immigration fiasco. We are hearing some very bad things from reputable sources. One who certainly cannot be dismissed commented that "the last line of defense has been breached" and that "it will be very bad." No matter how they spin it, any mention of mandatory emissions limits amounts to an invitation to a cap and trade regime at the very least. Once you've conceded that, then you have an open invitation not to something weaker, but to something stronger than Lieberman-Warner.
And it's just crazy to propose something that will raise energy prices when we stand on the brink of a recession! There are food riots all over the world caused partly by the biofuels idiocy (something else the President endorsed in the hopes of winning plaudits that never came from the left) and partly by high energy prices. This can only make that situation worse, and possibly lead to genuine hunger problems in America (as opposed to the "food insecurity" nonsense). Moreover, increasing energy prices hurts red states more than blue states — a fine reward for those who voted for the president in the belief they would thereby avoid Al Gore's policies.
Moreover, politically this leaves those Republicans and (yes, some) Democrats who have been holding the line in support of the American consumer hanging out to dry. By this — oh so unnecessary — concession, the President will have shifted the political center on energy and environment policy violently to the left. In that respect, this is a political earthquake. And having had this victory over what they regard as their greatest foe, don't imagine the left will stop there.
As I said, this is just so unnecessary. The President is right that activist litigation has forced his agencies into a regulatory nightmare – and things will only get worse if his own Interior Secretary decides to list the Polar Bear as endangered thanks to climate change. What he should be doing is telling Congress in no uncertain terms that the activists have twisted the Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Protection Act to breaking point by their use of them as a vehicle for global warming activism and that therefore Congress should fix those Acts so they can't be used so inappropriately again. As for emissions, the problem lies with Congress and Congress should debate among itself what to do, without any direction from the President. Siding with those who call for a mandatory emissions target does not help that debate.
If it is so unnecessary, why has he done it? I am inclined to agree with those who suggest it's in pursuit of a legacy. However, those who have criticized him for so long are unlikely to give him plaudits; rather they will continue to call him a laggard for taking so long and a dullard for failing to understand the science for so long, both of which judgments they will feel he has himself confirmed by this action. Meanwhile, in the real world, increased energy prices will mean the one sure effect of this action is likely to be his genuine legacy — recession.
We're hearing some very bad things about the President's likely unconditional surrender on global warming today. One senior source suggested that the last line of sound defense had been breached and that "It will be very bad." I'd imagine he will request, against all evidence from Europe that this does anything but make consumers poorer and utilities richer, a cap and trade regime for energy utilities.
I cannot emphasize too much how idiotic this is. At a time when the poor of the country and the world are feeling the twin crunches of credit being withdrawn and food and energy prices rising, jacking up energy prices farther will just add insult to injury. The fat cat traders of Wall Street will be licking their lips, of course. Meanwhile, House and Senate Republicans and (yes, some) Democrats who have stood up for the American consumer against this insanity will be left hanging. Those who voted for Bush in the mistaken belief they wouldn't get Gore's policies will have been betrayed. The political center on energy and environment will be jerked massively to the left. Some acheivement.
Mr. Bush, if you think this will secure your legacy, you are right. Your legacy will be just one word: Recession.
People need to get very, very angry about this. I know I am.
The Cooler Heads Coalition
invites you to a
Capitol Hill Book Forum
with
Lawrence Solomon
Author of
The Deniers
The world-renowned scientists who stood up against global warming
hysteria, political persecution, and fraud
Friday, April 18th
12:30-1:30 PM
Room 406, Senate Dirksen Office Building
Lunch Provided
Registered attendees will receive copies of the book, compliments of CEI.
Please Rsvp by e-mail to Julie Walsh at jwalsh@cei.org.
For more information, please call Myron Ebell at (202) 331-2256.
Note that this is a widely-attended event and open to the public.
About The Deniers
Is The "Scientific Consensus" on Global Warming a Myth?
Yes, says internationally renowned environmentalist author Lawrence Solomon who highlights the brave scientists–all leaders in their fields– who dispute the conventional wisdom of climate change alarmists (despite the threat to their careers)
Al Gore and his media allies claim the only scientists who dispute the alarmist view on global warming are corrupt crackpots and "deniers", comparable to neo-Nazis who deny the Holocaust.
Solomon calmly and methodically debunks Gore's outrageous charges, showing in on 'headline' case after another that the scientists who dispute Gore's doomsday scenarios have far more credibility than those who support Gore's theories. These men who expose Gore's claims as absurd hold top positions at the most prestigious scientific institutes in the world. Their work is cited and acclaimed throughout the scientific community. No wonder Gore and his allies want to pretend they don't exist.
This is the one book that PROVES the science is NOT settled. The scientists profiled are too eminent and their research too devastating to allow simplistic views of global warming–like Al Gore's–to survive.
A review of the book by Dr. Sterling Burnett of the National Center for Policy Analysis (and a member of the Cooler Heads Coalition) appeared on NRO’s Planet Gore recently and can be found here: http://planetgore.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YjJmZDYxZThlMzNmNzYzZmIzMGExNWY0Mzg1MGRiZTY=,
The Deniers is published by Richard Vigilante Books.
Lawrence Solomon is one of Canada’s leading environmentalists. His book, The Conserver Solution (Doubleday), which popularized the Conserver Society concept in the late 1970s, became the manual for those interested in incorporating environmental factors into economic life. An advisor to President Jimmy Carter's Task Force on the Global Environment (the Global 2000 Report) in the late 1970s, he has since been at the forefront of movements to reform foreign aid, stop nuclear power expansion and toll roads. Mr. Solomon is a founder and managing director of Energy Probe Research Foundation and the executive director of its Urban Renaissance Institute and Consumer Policy Institute divisions.
Mr. Solomon writes a weekly column for Toronto’s Financial Post. He has been a columnist for the Globe and Mail, a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, the editor and publisher of the award-winning the Next City magazine, and the author or co-author of several books.
The last months of a presidential administration are often dangerous. Presidents — looking to their legacies — go to desperate lengths to try to enhance their reputations for posterity. A pungent example of such practices by the Bush administration was reported above the fold on the front page of The Washington Times Monday: "Bush prepares global warming initiative."
The state projects are carried out by the catastrophist Center for Climate Strategies, which has enticed nearly half the nation's executive administrations into hiring them, after giving these governors the impression that they would objectively manage their states' "climate" commissions. In reality, accuracy would demand that these "action" squads instead be called "CO2-reduction" commissions, "Greenhouse gas-busters" or "Anti-exhalation engineers." But instead these true believers extrapolate their assumptions to assert they are fully addressing the earth's thermostat as well.
President Bush is giving a Rose Garden speech on Wednesday on climate change to lay out the way he thinks the U.S. can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. White House press secretary Dana Perino says that Bush will not outline a specific proposal, but instead will spell out a strategy for long-term goals for curbing emissions. Bush wants every major economy, including China and India, to establish a national goal for cutting the emissions believed responsible for global warming. In his remarks, he also will talk about legislative proposals on Capitol Hill that the administration has expressed opposition to, as well as regulatory issues.
Paul Chesser, Climate Strategies Watch
Gregg A. Zank, Dow Corning's vice president and chief technology officer, was so excited in December to be appointed to the Michigan Climate Action Council that he issued a press release:
“The Michigan Climate Action Council is a diverse group committed to examining and understanding climate change issues and how they affect the state of Michigan,” said Zank. “We know there’s no simple answer to this challenge we face, and I’m excited to work with this esteemed group to see what we can learn.”
So excited…
“Exploring climate change and its effects is not only an environmentally responsible action to take, but it also makes solid business sense,” said Zank. “For example, Dow Corning provides products that are critical to the solar industry. By investing in solar we’re able to have a significant environmental impact while providing jobs and economic value for Dow Corning and the community.”
And of course, his company is very excited as well:
The potential of solar energy is almost limitless. A completely renewable energy source that is not dependent on any fuel for its production. As the photovoltaic industry (PV) assumes an increasingly important role in meeting the world's energy needs, Dow Corning is making a difference by helping PV producers grow and succeed…
We are investing to continue to make a difference by expanding our portfolio of total solution packages for cell manufacturing, module assembly and installation. Solution packages include high-performance encapsulants, adhesives, coatings, potting agents and sealants as well as next-generation solar grade silicon. As the largest materials supplier to the PV industry, we service the entire PV value chain from sand to sun…"
What? Silicon tetrachloride, you ask? Did you hear us say "completely renewable energy source?"
Now about those subsidies….
So some White House-types are saying that a "climate change" announcement is imminent, as in the next 24 hours (sort of calling into question the shuffle from yesterday's press briefing).
As Bluto said in Animal House: "Great. Seven years [of college] down the drain."
Surely this will make the French be nice to us?
Tesco has made false claims about the source of the green fuel sold at its service stations, according to an investigation that found that the chain sold one of the most environmentally damaging types of biodiesel.
Black carbon, the stuff that gives soot its dirty color, could be the second most important contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide and a key to preventing warming, at least in the short-run, a new study suggests…Their estimates are well above those in the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and suggest that black carbon has a bigger warming effect than previously thought.
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