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Global Warming is Corporation's Biggest Government Trough Yet
Global Warming is Corporation's Biggest Government Trough Yet
Washington this week officially welcomed the newest industry on the hunt for financial and regulatory favors. Big CarbonCap may have the same dollar-sign agenda as Big Oil or Big Pharma, but don't expect Nancy Pelosi to admit to it. Democrats want to flog the global warming theme through 2008 and they'll take what help they can get, even if it means cozying up to executives whose goal is to enrich their firms. Right now, the corporate giants calling for a mandatory carbon cap serve too useful a political purpose for anyone to delve into their baser motives. The Climate Action Partnership, a group of 10 major companies that made headlines this week with its call for a national limit on carbon dioxide emissions, would surely feign shock at such an accusation. After all, their plea was carefully timed to coincide with President Bush's State of the Union capitulation on global warming, and it had the desired PR effect. The media dutifully declared that "even" business now recognized the climate threat. Sen. Barbara Boxer, who begins marathon hearings on warming next week, lauded the corporate angels for thinking of the "common good." There was a time when the financial press understood that companies exist to make money. And it happens that the cap-and-trade climate program these 10 jolly green giants are now calling for is a regulatory device designed to financially reward companies that reduce CO2 emissions, and punish those that don't. Four of the affiliates--Duke, PG&E, FPL and PNM Resources--are utilities that have made big bets on wind, hydroelectric and nuclear power. So a Kyoto program would reward them for simply enacting their business plan, and simultaneously sock it to their competitors. Duke also owns Cinergy, which relies heavily on dirty, CO2-emitting coal plants. But Cinergy will soon have to replace those plants with cleaner equipment. Under a Kyoto, it'll get paid for its trouble. DuPont has been plunging into biofuels, the use of which would soar under a cap. Somebody has to cobble together all these complex trading deals, so say hello to Lehman Brothers. Caterpillar has invested heavily in new engines that generate "clean energy." British Petroleum is mostly doing public penance for its dirty oil habit, but also gets a plug for its own biofuels venture. Finally, there's General Electric, whose CEO Jeffrey Immelt these days spends as much time in Washington as Connecticut. GE makes all the solar equipment and wind turbines (at $2 million a pop) that utilities would have to buy under a climate regime. GE's revenue from environmental products long ago passed the $10 billion mark, and it doesn't take much "ecomagination" to see why Mr. Immelt is leading the pack of climate profiteers. CEOs are quick learners, and even those who would get smacked by a carbon cap are now devising ways to make warming work to their political advantage. The "most creative" prize goes to steel giant Nucor. Steven Rowlan, the company's environmental director, doesn't want carbon caps in the U.S.--oh, no. The smarter answer, he explains, would be for the U.S. to impose trade restrictions on foreign firms that aren't environmentally clean. Global warming as foil for trade protectionism: Chuck Schumer's dream. What makes this lobby worse than the usual K-Street crowd is that it offers no upside. At least when Big Pharma self-interestedly asks for fewer regulations, the economy benefits. There's nothing capitalist about lobbying for a program that foists its debilitating costs on taxpayers and consumers while redistributing the wealth to a few corporate players. This is what comes from Washington steadily backstepping energy policy into the interventionist 1970s, picking winners and losers. In ethanol, in biodiesel, in wind farms, success isn't a function of supply or demand. The champs are the ones that coax out of Washington the best subsidies and regulations. Global warming is simply the biggest trough yet. Both Republicans and Democrats understand this debate is increasingly about home-state economics, even as they publicly joust about environmental rights or wrongs. The softening Republican stance on a mandatory program is one result. New Mexico's Pete Domenici appeared to undergo an epiphany about global warming in 2005, voting for a Senate resolution supporting caps. The switch might have more to do with remembering that his state is nuclear-power central, and will win big under a new program. Just ask his fellow New Mexican, Jeff Bingaman, who introduced the resolution. Economic interests also motivate those Democrats who won't play nice. The senators who have voted against previous bills represent those industries that will suffer most under Mr. Immelt's agenda. Louisiana's Mary Landrieu (oil); Montana's Max Baucus (coal); West Virginia's Robert Byrd (ditto). House Energy & Commerce Chair John Dingell remains a skeptic, since the last thing his Michigan auto makers need is yet another reason for people to not buy their cars. Which is fine with Ms. Pelosi. The Democratic leadership ran out of the winner's circle last November promising to tackle climate. And much was made this week of Madam Speaker's decision to wrest control of the debate away from Mr. Dingell's purview, handing it instead to a new "select" committee on climate change. But read the fine print. The new vaunted committee will have no legislative authority, but exists solely to hold hearings and to "communicate with the American people." Ms. Pelosi and Harry Reid want to talk about this issue . .. . and talk, and talk and talk. But not necessarily anything more. That's because Democrats want global warming as an issue through 2008. With Al Gore getting his Oscar nod, they've got a "problem" that captures the public imagination, as well as an endless supply of cash from thrilled environmental groups. No need to spoil it with a solution. And a Democratic president in 2009 would be more open to any ultimate legislation. Best yet, they've got the "support" of the business community, or at least the savvier elements of it. Welcome, Big CarbonCap; we're likely to be hearing a lot from you. -////////- [At least until November, 2008] -\\\\\\\\- "Our understanding of the climate is very primitive, simply because the climate is so complex. Climate is an immense, multi-stable, driven, chaotic, optimally turbulent, constructally organized tera-watt scale heat engine, with dozens of forcings and feedbacks, both internal and external, and both known and unknown. It is composed of five major subsystems (ocean, atmosphere, lithosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere), none of which are well understood. Each of these subsystems has its own forcings and feedbacks, again both known and unknown, which affect both itself and the system as a whole. "In addition, because of the sheer size of the system, our measurements of the various phenomena have large error margins. Even with satellites, we don 't have good figures for such basic things as total upwelling radiation at different frequencies, the albedo, or the temperature of the upper atmosphere. Our scientific knowledge of the whole is so poor, and our measurements are so uncertain, that we can not predict the next month's weather or the next decade's climate in anything more than the most general terms. "Despite (or perhaps because of) this lack of knowledge, the rude truth is that many climate scientists seem extremely reluctant to say "we don't know". As a result, people like yourself and others expect or request that we explain extremely short-term (25 year) fluctuations in the climate. Unfortunately, given our current state of knowledge, this is not necessarily possible. "Take for example the effects of the solar magnetic field on climate. This effect is known, but is very poorly understood. Is it responsible for the recent warming? We don't know. "And this is separate from the effect of coronal mass ejections and the solar wind on climate, which is even less understood. "Or how about the effect of land use changes? NOAA has said publicly that they may have a greater effect than CO2 changes. Are they responsible for the recent warming? We don't know. "It is well known that there are a variety of short-term (multi-decadal) oscillations or shifts in the climate system, such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the Arctic Oscillation, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, and others. These have significant effects on the global temperature. Could one of these, or a combination of these, or other unknown oscillations have caused the recent warming? We don't know. "Methane is not a well-mixed gas. Levels vary all over the world. It has recently been discovered that plants emit methane, perhaps a quarter of the global totals. This methane is concentrated in the lowest levels of the atmosphere. Worldwide, the planet is greening. What effect has this had on the registered temperatures, which are measured in the lowest layers of the atmosphere? We don't know. "It has recently been discovered that plankton emit gases that cause the formation of clouds above them. What effect does this have on the climate? We don't know. "How much has the sun's irradiance changed since 1975? There is much scientific dispute about that question as well, because of the lack of overlap between satellites that have given different answers. "Finally, how do these (and a host of other forcings and feedbacks) affect each other? What happens if a swing in the PDO occurs at the same time as a swing in the cosmic ray intensity, or any of hundreds of other possible interactions? This we really, really don't know. "In fact, of the 12 forcings listed by the IPCC in the Third Annual Report, the "Level of Scientific Understanding" (LOSU) of nine of them is rated as "Low", or "Very Low" . that's the majority of the forcings (and doesn't even include some known forcings), yet despite that, people like yourself say "explain the historical record". Sorry, but . we don't know. "Now, faced with this lack of knowledge, the standard response from the AGW crowd is "it must be CO2? . but why must it be CO2? Not knowing is certainly not proof of anything. In addition, the change doesn't fit the theoretical model of CO2 effects. Why would CO2 cause very little effect until 1975 (as evidenced by the close correlation between solar and temperature up to that point) and then suddenly cause a large effect? Why would the sun's suddenly stop affecting the temperature in 1975? Saying "we can't explain it, so it must be CO2? is nonsense. "So, despite the existence of a wide variety of possible explanations, I regret that I cannot offer you anything that is "resistant to criticism" about what caused the divergence. We don't even have any evidence "resistant to criticism" regarding whether the divergence is of the claimed size. It is one of the many, many unsolved mysteries of the climate. All it proves is one thing . "WE DON'T KNOW" http://www.climateaudit.org/?p=1108 -- __________________________________________________ _______________ Est autem fides credere quod nondum vides;cuius fidei merces est videre quod credis HD RADIO is here! http://www.HDRadio.com DUNCAN HUNTER for PRESIDENT http://www.GoHunter08.com WHAT THE LEFT WON'T TELL YOU http://www.FrontPageMag.com WHAT COMMUNISTS WON'T TELL YOU http://China-E-Lobby.blogspot.com WHAT ISLAM WON'T TELL YOU http://www.WhatTheWestNeedsToKnow.com __________________________________________________ _______________ |
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Global Warming is Corporation's Biggest Government Trough Yet
On Apr 8, 4:41 pm, "HD Radio¹" wrote:
Global Warming is Corporation's Biggest Government Trough Yet Yeah, and *this* after the big Earth is not Flat and Earth is not the Center of the Universe scams! Some people never learn -- thanks for the timely warning! |
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Global Warming is Corporation's Biggest Government Trough Yet
HD Radio¹ wrote:
"WE DON'T KNOW" Stephen McIntyre explains the global warming deniers understanding of science. "Stephen McIntyre is a former mining executive; prior to 2003 he has been officer or director of several small public mineral exploration companies. "He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in pure mathematics from the University of Toronto" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_McIntyre --Jeff -- The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within. --Mohandas K. Gandhi |
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Global Warming is Corporation's Biggest Government Trough Yet
In 1992, Gore published Earth in the Balance, an environmentalist tract with
a generally apocalyptic view about the damage wrought to "the earth's climate balance." Likening the supposed abuse of the environment to the predations of Nazi Germany, Gore wrote that global warming threatens "an environmental holocaust without precedent" and, while papering over contrary evidence, insisted that "evidence of an ecological Kristalnacht is as clear as the glass shattering in Berlin. Although the book sold well, it also revealed Gore to be an uncompromising ideologue, undercutting the "moderate" image he had cultivated while seeking the presidency in 1988. Gore's 2000 run for the Presidency was marked by revelations of his fabulation and self-creation. On one occasion, he claimed to have been the inspiration for the main character in film Love Story. He misleadingly claimed to have brought a New York toxic waste dump called Love Canal to national attention. Perhaps most notoriously, Gore in a Mach 1999 interview suggested that as a Congressman he had played a critical role in "creating the Internet." http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/i...asp?indid=2140 __________________________________________________ ____ "Jeffrey Turner" wrote in message ... HD Radio¹ wrote: "WE DON'T KNOW" Stephen McIntyre explains the global warming deniers understanding of science. "Stephen McIntyre is a former mining executive; prior to 2003 he has been officer or director of several small public mineral exploration companies. "He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in pure mathematics from the University of Toronto" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_McIntyre --Jeff -- The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within. --Mohandas K. Gandhi |
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Global Warming is Corporation's Biggest Government Trough Yet
On Apr 9, 11:04 am, "HD.Radio" wrote:
In 1992, Gore published Earth in the Balance, an environmentalist tract with a generally apocalyptic view about the damage wrought to "the earth's climate balance." Likening the supposed abuse of the environment to the predations of Nazi Germany, Gore wrote that global warming threatens "an environmental holocaust without precedent" and, while papering over contrary evidence, insisted that "evidence of an ecological Kristalnacht is as clear as the glass shattering in Berlin. Although the book sold well, it also revealed Gore to be an uncompromising ideologue, undercutting the "moderate" image he had cultivated while seeking the presidency in 1988. Gore's 2000 run for the Presidency was marked by revelations of his fabulation and self-creation. On one occasion, he claimed to have been the inspiration for the main character in film Love Story. He misleadingly claimed to have brought a New York toxic waste dump called Love Canal to national attention. Perhaps most notoriously, Gore in a Mach 1999 interview suggested that as a Congressman he had played a critical role in "creating the Internet." http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/i...asp?indid=2140 __________________________________________________ ____"Jeffrey Turner" wrote in message ... HD Radio¹ wrote: "WE DON'T KNOW" Stephen McIntyre explains the global warming deniers understanding of science. "Stephen McIntyre is a former mining executive; prior to 2003 he has been officer or director of several small public mineral exploration companies. "He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in pure mathematics from the University of Toronto" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_McIntyre --Jeff -- The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within. --Mohandas K. Gandhi- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - HD.Radio - Yeah - Don't it just GORE You . . . When AL does one of his AL-ly Oops - ifim ~ RHF . ifim = Insert Foot In Mouth . . .. . |
#6
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Global Warming is Corporation's Biggest Government Trough Yet
HD.Radio wrote:
In 1992, Gore published Earth in the Balance, an environmentalist tract with a generally apocalyptic view about the damage wrought to "the earth's climate balance." Likening the supposed abuse of the environment to the predations of Nazi Germany, Gore wrote that global warming threatens "an environmental holocaust without precedent" and, while papering over contrary evidence, insisted that "evidence of an ecological Kristalnacht is as clear as the glass shattering in Berlin. Although the book sold well, it also revealed Gore to be an uncompromising ideologue, undercutting the "moderate" image he had cultivated while seeking the presidency in 1988. Gore's 2000 run for the Presidency was marked by revelations of his fabulation and self-creation. On one occasion, he claimed to have been the inspiration for the main character in film Love Story. Gore was quoted in the New York Times December 14, 1997 edition as saying "[Erich] Segal had told some reporters in Tennessee that Love Story was based on him and Tipper." The Tennessean newspaper article indeed quoted Segal as saying that Love Story was based on both the Gores. Gore's quotation is therefore accurate since Gore was referring to what the Tennessean had reported. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore_controversies He misleadingly claimed to have brought a New York toxic waste dump called Love Canal to national attention. On 30 November 1999, in response to a question about what students could do to involve themselves in the political process, Gore described to a New Hampshire high school his reaction in the late 1970s to a letter from a student in Toone, Tennessee, complaining about her family's poisoned well: "I called for a congressional investigation and a hearing. I looked around the country for other sites like that. I found a little place in upstate New York called Love Canal. Had the first hearing on that issue, and Toone, Tennessee — that was the one that you didn't hear of. But that was the one that started it all."[13] While the Associated Press story that covered the speech printed the final quotation correctly, both the Washington Post and The Washington Times claimed that Gore had actually said: "I was the one that started it all". [14] The Post ran a correction a few days later, but the Times never did http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore_controversies That's the Moonie Times for ya. Perhaps most notoriously, Gore in a Mach 1999 interview suggested that as a Congressman he had played a critical role in "creating the Internet." If President Eisenhower had said in the mid-1960s that he, while President, "created" the Interstate Highway System, we would not have seen dozens and dozens of editorials lampooning him for claiming he "invented" the concept of highways or implying that he personally went out and dug ditches across the country to help build the roadway. Everyone would have understood that Ike meant he was a driving force behind the legislation that created the highway system, and this was the very same concept Al Gore was expressing about himself with his Internet statement. http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp Glad I could clear up your disinformation. --Jeff -- We can have democracy or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few. We cannot have both. --Justice Louis Brandeis |
#7
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Global Warming is Corporation's Biggest Government Trough Yet
Global warming (if it indeed is happening) is because of Owl Gourdhead's
hot air.If he would shut up,things would get back to normal. Charlotte,North Carolina,,,, the coldest April on record. cuhulin |
#8
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Global Warming is Corporation's Biggest Government Trough Yet
Jeffrey Turner wrote:
HD.Radio wrote: In 1992, Gore published Earth in the Balance, an environmentalist tract with a generally apocalyptic view about the damage wrought to "the earth's climate balance." Likening the supposed abuse of the environment to the predations of Nazi Germany, Gore wrote that global warming threatens "an environmental holocaust without precedent" and, while papering over contrary evidence, insisted that "evidence of an ecological Kristalnacht is as clear as the glass shattering in Berlin. Although the book sold well, it also revealed Gore to be an uncompromising ideologue, undercutting the "moderate" image he had cultivated while seeking the presidency in 1988. Gore's 2000 run for the Presidency was marked by revelations of his fabulation and self-creation. On one occasion, he claimed to have been the inspiration for the main character in film Love Story. Gore was quoted in the New York Times December 14, 1997 edition as saying "[Erich] Segal had told some reporters in Tennessee that Love Story was based on him and Tipper." The Tennessean newspaper article indeed quoted Segal as saying that Love Story was based on both the Gores. Gore's quotation is therefore accurate since Gore was referring to what the Tennessean had reported. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore_controversies He misleadingly claimed to have brought a New York toxic waste dump called Love Canal to national attention. On 30 November 1999, in response to a question about what students could do to involve themselves in the political process, Gore described to a New Hampshire high school his reaction in the late 1970s to a letter from a student in Toone, Tennessee, complaining about her family's poisoned well: "I called for a congressional investigation and a hearing. I looked around the country for other sites like that. I found a little place in upstate New York called Love Canal. Had the first hearing on that issue, and Toone, Tennessee — that was the one that you didn't hear of. But that was the one that started it all."[13] While the Associated Press story that covered the speech printed the final quotation correctly, both the Washington Post and The Washington Times claimed that Gore had actually said: "I was the one that started it all". [14] The Post ran a correction a few days later, but the Times never did http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore_controversies That's the Moonie Times for ya. Perhaps most notoriously, Gore in a Mach 1999 interview suggested that as a Congressman he had played a critical role in "creating the Internet." If President Eisenhower had said in the mid-1960s that he, while President, "created" the Interstate Highway System, we would not have seen dozens and dozens of editorials lampooning him for claiming he "invented" the concept of highways or implying that he personally went out and dug ditches across the country to help build the roadway. Everyone would have understood that Ike meant he was a driving force behind the legislation that created the highway system, and this was the very same concept Al Gore was expressing about himself with his Internet statement. http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp Glad I could clear up your disinformation. I should point out that even if Al Gore ate babies it wouldn't effect the validity of claims of global warming. Global warming is science which stands (or falls) on its own merits and not on the activities or other positions of anyone associated with it. --Jeff -- We can have democracy or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few. We cannot have both. --Justice Louis Brandeis |
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