Global Warming and Truth in Advertising

As congress moves closer to drafting and passing a cap and trade bill, Americans need to understand that they are the victims of a giant hoax.

There is a great post over at the Conservative Patriot HQ discussing this topic.  Our media and government seem to want to ignore that fact that man made global warming claims are dubious at best.  Most of the studies ignore evidence to the contrary or skip the peer review process all together.

Soon, Americans will be burdened with a massive energy tax that will cripple our economy.  The question is, are we going to let this happen?

Cleaning the Air by Cleaning Out Your Wallet

(April 11, 2008 ) – Like I was sayin… somebody has to pay for it.  I like to believe that I am at least a little green.  I do my part by recycling, watching water consumption, etc…  I’ll even by an alternative fuel vehicle as soon as they are comparable with gasoline powered vehicles in both performance and price.

Most Americans support legislation to help the environment, but many don’t understand the impact to them personally.

There is been a lot of press recently about the “America’s Climate Security Act of 2007″ (S. 2101)introduced by Lieberman (I-CT) and Warner (R-VA).  The bill sounds sensible enough.  It seeks to combat global warming (more on that later) by instituting a cap and trade system.  Under a cap and trade system, caps for the maximum amount of CO2 are set.  Companies producing less than a certain amount can sell their excess to companies producing over the cap.  There are also fines for producing over the cap or the cap plus what you have purchased.  The idea is that it incents companies to reduce emissions.

One of the drawbacks that most people don’t understand is that companies that pay extra fees, fines, or taxes just don’t turn on their printing presses to pay the extra money, they pass the cost on to the consumer.  One of the impacts of the bill will be to raise the cost of energy which will be paid directly or indirectly by the American people.

A recent article by Allison Kasic highlights some of the impacts to the American economy:

• Gross Domestic Product would be reduced by $151 billion to $210 billion by 2020 and between $631 billion to $669 billion per year in 2030.
• Americans would lose 1.2 million to 1.8 million jobs in 2020 and 3 million to 4 million jobs in 2030.
• Household income would be reduced by $739 to $2,927 per year in 2020 and $4,022 to $6,752 per year in 2030.
• Electricity prices would increase by 28% to 33% by 2020 and 101% to 129% by 2030, and gasoline prices would increase  20% to 69% by 2020 and 77% to 145% by 2030.

The household impact is from the direct cost of energy rising.  Do American’s really support paying an extra $700 to $3000 a year to support this bill?  How many people actually know that what this bill means to them? 

Another cost will be passed on the the American tax payer.  The bill itself is carving out over $845 billion to help low income Americans pay energy bills and to subsidize alternative energy.

Some argue that the cost is worth it to stop global warming.  However, in order to accept that you first have to accept that man is causing global warming.  The fact that humans are responsible for only 3% of the the total CO2 emissions passes right by folks and you won’t see the global warming alarmists pointing it out anytime soon either.  The other 97% comes from nature.  People also ignore the fact that the earth has been cooling for the last 10 years.

There is no doubt that we should act in a responsible way where the environment is concerned.  However, knee-jerk political gestures that destroy the American economy are no way to go about it.

50 cent a Gallon Gas Tax proposed by Mich. Democrat

(March 20, 2008 ) – Like I was sayin…. you can’t have it both ways.  Democrat Congressman John Dingell wants you to pay MORE at the pump.

With gas prices escalating and the American consumer wondering how to make ends meet, John Dingell, a Mich. Democrat, wants to raise gas taxes by 50 cents a gallon.  The only good news is that he wants to wait until after the 2008 elections to propose the increase.  You see, it is more important to get his party elected that it is to do what he thinks is right.  If he is so sure this is the right thing to do, why is he waiting until after the 2008 elections to push this?

His argument is so full of holes, it is hard to understand why he would propose such a thing.

Here is a link to an article that lays it out.

Firstly, he wants to raise the gas tax as a cure for the “sick” planet.  There is so much information contrary to the global warming hoax, this is almost laughable.  Don’t get me wrong, we need to conserve and find ways to end our oil dependence, but taxing us into oblivion is not the answer.  The fact that the planet has been cooling for the last 10 years doesn’t seem to matter. 

Secondly, he wants to raise taxes to lower the consumption of gas.  The idea being, the more you tax something, the less of it you get.  This runs contrary to the current dem push to raise taxes to fix the economy.  If taxing gas leads to less gas consumption doesn’t taxing corporations and investors lead to less growth and less investment? 

Just remember this November when you go to the polls, you can vote for the party that wants to take more and more of your money away or the party that believes taking less from you leads to a better America.