In The News
Jackson vows to maintain "aggressive environmental agenda"
Friday December 3, 2010
BOSTON -- The Obama administration is committed to an "aggressive environmental agenda" that goes beyond what was achieved during the past four decades, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said today during a speech at Harvard University.
Jackson spoke during a conference that featured appearances by several leading lights of the environmental movement, including EPA's first administrator, Bill Ruckelshaus, and former Vice President Al Gore, who spoke to agency officials during an invitation-only luncheon.
Jackson spoke during a conference that featured appearances by several leading lights of the environmental movement, including EPA's first administrator, Bill Ruckelshaus, and former Vice President Al Gore, who spoke to agency officials during an invitation-only luncheon.
Edmond Sun: Locals to protest climate change policies
Friday December 3, 2010
Some Edmond residents are heading to Cancun, not to escape Oklahoma’s seasonably cold winds, but to protest “hypocrisy” at the 2010 U.N. Climate Change Conference.
Stuart Jolly, of Edmond, director of the state’s chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a handful of Oklahomans and a total of 200 AFP representatives from across the country are converging on Cancun, part of the AFP’s Hot Air Tour, which is aimed at exposing the high cost of environmental alarmism, they said. Jolly said carbon regulating policies, such as proposed cap-and-trade legislation, result in lost jobs, less freedom and higher taxes.
Jolly said carbon regulating policies, such as proposed cap-and-trade legislation, result in lost jobs, less freedom and higher taxes.
Oklahoma is an energy-producing state, and last year the state Legislature passed a non-binding resolution opposing the cap-and-trade proposal thus sending a message to Congress, Jolly said.
Stuart Jolly, of Edmond, director of the state’s chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a handful of Oklahomans and a total of 200 AFP representatives from across the country are converging on Cancun, part of the AFP’s Hot Air Tour, which is aimed at exposing the high cost of environmental alarmism, they said. Jolly said carbon regulating policies, such as proposed cap-and-trade legislation, result in lost jobs, less freedom and higher taxes.
Jolly said carbon regulating policies, such as proposed cap-and-trade legislation, result in lost jobs, less freedom and higher taxes.
Oklahoma is an energy-producing state, and last year the state Legislature passed a non-binding resolution opposing the cap-and-trade proposal thus sending a message to Congress, Jolly said.
FRIEDMANS FOLLY
Friday December 3, 2010
“I have been over into the future, and it works.” Lincoln Steffens, after returning from the Soviet Union, 1921
In a column more puerile than profound, Thomas Friedman wonders, “What if China had a Wikileaker?” His point is that if another Julian Assange leaked China’s diplomatic cables, we would see China laughing at America. In Friedman’s reverie, Chinese diplomats scoff at surly travelers complaining about full-body scans; chuckle over elections in which one candidate tries “to raise more money than the other (all from businesses they are supposed to be regulating)”; and laugh at provincial Americans who “travel abroad so rarely that they don’t see how far they are falling behind.”
In a column more puerile than profound, Thomas Friedman wonders, “What if China had a Wikileaker?” His point is that if another Julian Assange leaked China’s diplomatic cables, we would see China laughing at America. In Friedman’s reverie, Chinese diplomats scoff at surly travelers complaining about full-body scans; chuckle over elections in which one candidate tries “to raise more money than the other (all from businesses they are supposed to be regulating)”; and laugh at provincial Americans who “travel abroad so rarely that they don’t see how far they are falling behind.”
Sierra Club: "Even Jim Inhofe has got a soul"
Friday December 3, 2010
TWEET, TWEET - Jim Inhofe also made about a two-and-a-half-hour appearance that last week in Copenhagen, long enough to hold an impromptu gaggle in the media center to refute everything Kerry had said the day before. This year, Inhofe opted to record a message and send that to Cancun instead of flying down himself, something the Sierra Club thanked him for via Twitter yesterday. Inhofe's office shot back with a tweet of its own: "1st time Sierra Club praises Inhofe?" That, of course, drew its own response from the Sierra Club: "Even Jim Inhofe has got a soul."
Inhofe: Nothing is going to happen in Cancun at UN Climate party and everyone knows it.
Friday December 3, 2010
Unable to make the Americans for Prosperity event last night in Cancun, Mexico because of votes in Washington, Senator Inhofe sent along the following video in which he tells AFP, "The fact is, nothing is going to happen in Cancun this year and everyone knows it. I couldn't be happier and poor Al Gore couldn't be more upset: it has been widely reported that he is 'depressed' about Cancun."
The AFP event from Cancun was broadcast to more than twenty states. Click here to learn more.
The AFP event from Cancun was broadcast to more than twenty states. Click here to learn more.
E&E; News: Last-minute water, lands, wildlife bill a Frankenstein omnibus - Hastings
Friday December 3, 2010
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) struck a gothic tone in sounding off against Senate Democrats' eleventh-hour effort to pass a bundle of stalled waterways, public lands and wildlife bills before this Congress ends.
Citing staff research and "reliable private accounts," Hastings said the "monstrous" measure could include as many as 126 individual bills, total 1,400 pages and authorize $10 billion in additional spending.
"Somewhere in the Senate, Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer are secretly constructing a Frankenstein omnibus of bills from three separate committees," said Hastings, who is expected to head the House Natural Resources Committee next year. "Democratic leaders are ignoring the overwhelming message sent by voters in November that they wanted an end to the backroom deals that produce giant bills loaded with new spending and job-killing policies."
Citing staff research and "reliable private accounts," Hastings said the "monstrous" measure could include as many as 126 individual bills, total 1,400 pages and authorize $10 billion in additional spending.
"Somewhere in the Senate, Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer are secretly constructing a Frankenstein omnibus of bills from three separate committees," said Hastings, who is expected to head the House Natural Resources Committee next year. "Democratic leaders are ignoring the overwhelming message sent by voters in November that they wanted an end to the backroom deals that produce giant bills loaded with new spending and job-killing policies."
Mother Jones: Senate Republicans to World: We're Not Paying for Climate
Thursday December 2, 2010
The Senate's leading climate change denier, James Inhofe (R-Okla.), isn't making an appearance in Cancun this year. He dropped in for a short visit to Copenhagen last year, where his presence mostly served to confuse and disturb reporters from other countries. This year he decided to make a video presentation at a side event in Cancun organized byAmericans for Prosperity, an astroturf group funded in part by fossil fuel interests, rather than show up. But he and three other Republican Senators on Thursday reminded the world that they intend to block funding for climate-related issues.
In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Inhofe joined John Barrasso (Wy), David Vitter (La.), and George Voinovich (Ohio) in requesting that the US stop "wasting" money on programs to help developing countries reduce emissions and adapt to climate changes. In Copenhagen, the leaders of developed countries, including the US, agreed to provide $10 billion a year for projects for the next three years, and $100 billion a year by 2020. The details of that funding are among the issues under negotiation in Cancun right now.
In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Inhofe joined John Barrasso (Wy), David Vitter (La.), and George Voinovich (Ohio) in requesting that the US stop "wasting" money on programs to help developing countries reduce emissions and adapt to climate changes. In Copenhagen, the leaders of developed countries, including the US, agreed to provide $10 billion a year for projects for the next three years, and $100 billion a year by 2020. The details of that funding are among the issues under negotiation in Cancun right now.
E&E; News: GOP senators decry bailout for developing countries
Thursday December 2, 2010
Top-ranking Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee have asked Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to freeze all future requests for climate-related spending, saying that it is inappropriate to transfer money to developing nations while the U.S. economy is struggling.
The letter -- signed by Sens. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, David Vitter of Louisiana, George Voinovich of Ohio and John Barrasso of Wyoming -- warns U.S. negotiators not to give away too much during the U.N. climate conference that is under way in Cancun, Mexico.
"We simply cannot afford any massive spending programs with such debt owed by America's future generations," it says.
The letter -- signed by Sens. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, David Vitter of Louisiana, George Voinovich of Ohio and John Barrasso of Wyoming -- warns U.S. negotiators not to give away too much during the U.N. climate conference that is under way in Cancun, Mexico.
"We simply cannot afford any massive spending programs with such debt owed by America's future generations," it says.
BMI: Global warming alarmist admits senators prediction about cap-and-trade legislation was correct
Thursday December 2, 2010
Leave it to navel-gazing so-called climate journalists to get to the bottom of the aftermath of ClimateGate.
The Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media asked - what did the 'climate journalism community' learn over the 12 months stemming from the controversy, or as it prefaced, 'pseudo-controversies,' specifically the 'cherry-picked' and 'hacked' emails that came out of ClimateGate.
Some of the journalist's surveyed by Yale Forum dismissed ClimateGate altogether. However, one of those journalists surveyed offered a surprising claim. Eric Pooley, a writer for Bloomberg BusinessWeek, said ClimateGate did have a lasting impact on moving the ball away from what many alarmists would like to see.
The Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media asked - what did the 'climate journalism community' learn over the 12 months stemming from the controversy, or as it prefaced, 'pseudo-controversies,' specifically the 'cherry-picked' and 'hacked' emails that came out of ClimateGate.
Some of the journalist's surveyed by Yale Forum dismissed ClimateGate altogether. However, one of those journalists surveyed offered a surprising claim. Eric Pooley, a writer for Bloomberg BusinessWeek, said ClimateGate did have a lasting impact on moving the ball away from what many alarmists would like to see.
AFP: No US overseas aid for climate change: Senators
Thursday December 2, 2010
WASHINGTON - The United States must freeze climate-change aid payments to developing countries to help them implement a global plan agreed in Denmark's capital last year, four US lawmakers said Thursday.
Republican Senators John Barrasso, James Inhofe, David Vitter, and George Voinovich told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Washington cannot to spend the money at a time of swelling deficits and a bloated national debt.
"We remain opposed to the US commitment to full implementation of the Copenhagen Accord, which will transfer billions of US taxpayer dollars to developing nations in the name of climate change," they said in a letter.
"We do not believe that billions of US taxpayer dollars should be transferred to developing countries through unaccountable multilateral or bilateral channels for adaptation, deforestation and other international climate finance programs," they told the top US diplomat.
Republican Senators John Barrasso, James Inhofe, David Vitter, and George Voinovich told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Washington cannot to spend the money at a time of swelling deficits and a bloated national debt.
"We remain opposed to the US commitment to full implementation of the Copenhagen Accord, which will transfer billions of US taxpayer dollars to developing nations in the name of climate change," they said in a letter.
"We do not believe that billions of US taxpayer dollars should be transferred to developing countries through unaccountable multilateral or bilateral channels for adaptation, deforestation and other international climate finance programs," they told the top US diplomat.
