Battle lines drawn on climate bill

The so-called cap-and-trade system is nothing more than a way for Obama to raise tax revenues in the name of curbing global warming. It's a tax that will increase our energy bills for years to come and do nothing positive to affect positive climate change. We have to start thinking nuclear power to start to reduce carbon emissions. France started nuclear power 20 years ago and they now get 80% of their power needs from nuclear power plants with no problems or pollution.

It appears to me we have no energy policy except a proposal for an emissions cap and trade, which will cause energy prices to rise, a call for the reduction in the use of coal, which we currently use for much of our energy and more reliance on alternatives which are nowhere ready to take the place of existing energy sources. Today's paper has oil at over $56.00 a barrel on increased demand in China. A recovery is probably going to occur faster in China than here which means we will soon have the worst of all worlds - a lingering economy with high unemployment and higher energy costs. The definition of insanity is doing the same destructive thing over and over again. That is how I characterize America's reliance on the boom and bust cycles of oil. We never seem to learn. I blame the leadership of both political parties for our lack of an intelligent energy policy. Soon, we will again be paying higher prices for energy, and we have nobody to blame but ourselves for our lack of concern, and for re-electing incompetent, partisan politicians. Can we not come to a compromise that allows for more development of domestic energy sources while alternatives come on line? Or, will Americans be forced to pay high energy costs while the government fumbles for an energy policy. Other countries like Brazil appear to have found a way for sustainable energy independence, why haven't we?

This bill is a joke and will do NOTHING to change global warming, or global climate change, or whatever the latest trendy term is. It is a transparent money and power grab (to those paying attention anyway) under the guise of “doing something" to save the earth. It will do nothing but score political points with the environmental lobby and guilty rich liberals, and make some people feel better that we are at least "doing something", even if the cure is worse than the disease, which it is in this case.

The most oft sighted reasons I hear to support cap-n-trade is that 1) "its better to be safe than sorry" and 2) "its good to reduce pollution anyway". Bull. On #1, if by being “safe than sorry”, one means that we should impose this extreme burden on businesses, energy producers and energy users (i.e. everyone), and therefore our entire economy, in order to have sea levels rise 8 inches instead of 9 inches (or whatever it may be), then sorry, but I’d much rather be, um, sorry. Not to mention that there is almost zero chance that China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, et al. are going to go along with the same restrictions, thereby totally negating any emissions reductions of ours, and they’ll still have the benefit of having their economies intact too. But hey at least we can look down our noses at them and feel morally superior about “doing something”. On #2, despite the recent nonsense from the EPA, CO2 is NOT a threat to public health. Hey EPA, what is the “correct” level of CO2, above which I’ll start feeling symptoms? And what are those symptoms - shortness of breath? Heart palpitations? Asthma attacks? Coughing/sneezing? None of the above? Bingo. I could breathe several times the amount of CO2 currently in our atmosphere and be fine as long as I also had enough oxygen. So therefore, this whole thing about CO2 being a public health threat is complete BS. Soot, smog, smoke, diesel fumes – those are a direct threat to public health, i.e. you can see a direct cause and effect between those emissions and the harm they cause. Not so with CO2. The effect that additional marginal CO2 emissions have on GCC is so indirect and far-removed that it is going to be impossible to regulate the input and see any real change in output within any meaningful time span. Therefore any correlational changes between emission reductions and GCC will be impossible to measure, and thus scientifically irrelevant.

Anyway for the record, I do believe that we humans are somewhat responsible for GCC. I also believe that it is smart to explore alternative energy sources, reduce harmful pollution, etc. But I also believe, contrary to Gore, Markey, Waxman and the Global Warmists, that the sky is not falling, and that human civilization is not in imminent danger. I believe that our efforts would be MUCH better spent on ways to adapt and prepare for GCC than to try and prevent it through emission reductions. GCC as we know it is the slow motion result of 150+ years of accelerating worldwide industrialization, so it is utter hubris to think that our government alone can undo it in a mere 40 years without major economic side effects. But since the worst of the effects of GCC are decades away, we have time to prepare and adapt to mitigate the harm, and take advantage of GCC, in some cases. This climate bill deserves to die a quick death.

Mr. Obama, despite his alarmist language about climate change, sings only one tune: taxes (cap and trade). If he really thought "carbon pollution" was as lethal as he alleges, he would ban it today, but I guess we can live with it until 2050. In the meantime, he yet again use a "crisis" to promote his agenda of government control over another giant sector of the economy. Perhaps he would convince citizens of the danger of "carbon poisoning" by showing us he himself is convinced of its imminent threat: like not sending out his plane for photo-ops at a five-gallon-per-mile rate of carbon emissions. The fact is he sees this whole issue as no more than a ridiculously easy and extravagant income stream for enlarging government. He doesn't even believe his own hype.

If Ed Markey would stop speaking, that would by itself cut down on the level of greenhouse gases.

If you want to understand what is driving the decisions of the politicians, follow the money. Democrats or Republicans, it doesn't matter. Corporate masters or or unions leaders, it doesn't matter.

A case in point. Al Gore has for years been harping on global warming, even in the face of skepticism in the scientific community. He was partially correct. The evidence of increased pollution is obvious. The effects are not so apparent. There was an article in the past few days that uncovered Gore's financial holdings and interests, and surprise, if cap and trade becomes the law of the land, gore will control a significant financial stake and stands to become one of the wealthiest men in the world. Hmmm!?! As I said, follow the money.

This is just another step by the left wing government to control our lives. 85% reduction in emissions by 2050? Sure. Global Warming is a farce, and the sooner the masses wakeup to it the better. Unfortunately the media will continue to indoctrinate those who don't question things and poison public opinion on the matter. I hope and pray America wakes up in time, because this country is going completely down the toilet.

Why aren't we converting to Bixby Energy's gasification and liquification process for our energy? No carbon waste! No sequestration. Lots of jobs here in the U.S. It causes no global warming. Why aren't we using it all over the country and the world yet? We don't need nuclear plants. Wake up America!

Brilliant marketing campaign by liberals. Why try and compete in a free market when you can force people to buy your "product"?
Step 1: Generate mass paranoia of Armageddon via global warming.
Step 2: Sell Carbon Credits to save the world.
Step 3: Get Legislators in Washington to require carbon offsets and credits be purchased by companies and businesses.
Step 4: Profit.

Too bad it'll bankrupt most companies and make a lot of people unemployed, but hey at least Al Gore will be rich.

Hey man,
All you right wing wingnuts need to go spew this garbage on the Herald site. Haven't you realized the freaking sky is falling? Didn't you sweat your balls off last week with that bout of Anthropogenic Global Warming? Oh, I suppose you think fixing this is just gonna pay for itself? It's time to get patriotic and pony up some tax money to save the earth! We need to start living like it's 1830 again.