From the snail darter to CO2
We’ve come a long way from the snail darter controversy three decades ago. It is somehow fitting that the imperial overreach of the EPA, as specifically endorsed by the Supreme Court, has been made clear to many Americans in the bizarre declaration of CO2 to be a dangerous pollutant.
The Cato Institute has a critique of the decision that should be required reading. Imagine the audacity of declaring that a gas that is required for plant life to exist on earth, and is the stuff that humans exhale as a result of the respiratory cycle enabling us to live, is a threat to us. Further, the EPA expects us to believe that the “danger” that comes from this gas critical to life exists because of an absolutely trivial increase in the amount of the gas in the atmosphere. Underscore: absolutely trivial increase.
The logical inference of the sweeping CO2 declaration is that there is no aspect of American life that is beyond the regulation of the federal government, for whatever cockeyed reason they choose. Common sense has departed from American life. God save us from fools such as these. HT: Powerline
December 10th, 2009 at 6:17 am
The next logical progression is to market CO2 meters to all public buildings and establish a network of outdoor CO2 sensors to monitor CO2 levels in urban areas. What is a reasonable level of CO2 in an urban area? The city planners can now regulate urban development based on the “new” findings that “scientists” can now manipulate when they apply the “hockey stick” to background levels in urban areas.
Does anyone know of any public listed companies that manufacture CO2 monitoring equipment in India or China? I suspect money can be made in many ways.
December 10th, 2009 at 8:19 am
I must refine your comment, Canucklehead. Monitoring CO2 in public places is only the first step in the progression. The second step will be to monitor ALL private places, at the owner’s expense.
Environmentalism is nothing more than the latest, and probably ugliest, face of totalitarianism.
There will be more, and more, of bureaucracies attempts to restrict and eliminate ALL personal freedom. Our betters cannot be wrong; and they will do all these things for our own GOOD. They are, of course, selfless martyrs, out to save the planet.
December 10th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Right you are Terrence.
Also imagine public sector unions raising safe working environment issues in their collective agreements. CO2 concentrations rise slightly and everyone working goes home on paid leave until the building can be made safe for work…
December 10th, 2009 at 8:31 am
Right you are Terrence.
Also imagine public sector unions raising safe working environment issues in their collective agreements. CO2 concentrations rise slightly and everyone working goes home on paid leave until the building can be made safe for work…
December 10th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Either the American public is very, very stupid or the large majority is biding its time quietly. This latest bit of tomfoolery amazes and outrages me. CO2 monitors? No doubt someone in EPA will try to institute them, possibly even private ones that each of us must buy individually. At that point civil disobedience will either take over or I’ll head to Australia. Someone needs to tell the folks in Washington that they have truly overstepped this time. F
December 11th, 2009 at 3:39 am
So when is the public execution of Al Gore, for his crimes against the environment?
If you don’t get the analogy, read up on the French Revolution. The royals were the first to the guillotine, but hardly the last. If you prefer a more modern lesson, Trotsky comes to mind.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:52 am
Don’t let the climate doubters fool you – By Alan I. Leshner, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
In April, 1994 — long after scientists had clearly demonstrated the addictive quality and devastating health impacts of cigarette smoking — seven chief executives of major tobacco companies denied the evidence, swearing under oath that nicotine was not addictive. Now, the American public is again being subjected to those kinds of denials, this time about global climate change.
Climate-change science is clear: The concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide — derived mostly from the human activities of fossil-fuel burning and deforestation — stands at 389 parts per million (ppm). We know from studying ancient Antarctic ice cores that this concentration is higher than it has been for at least the past 650,000 years. Exhaustive measurements tell us that atmospheric carbon dioxide is rising by 2 ppm every year and that the global temperature has increased by about 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century. Multiple lines of other evidence, including reliable thermometer readings since the 1880s, reveal a clear warming trend. The broader impacts of climate change range from rapidly melting glaciers and rising sea levels to shifts in species ranges.
Thousands of respected scientists at an array of institutions worldwide agree that major health and economic impacts are likely unless we act now to slow greenhouse gas emissions. Already, sea levels are estimated to rise by 1 to 2 meters by the end of this century.
The doubters try to leverage any remaining points of scientific uncertainty about the details of warming trends to cast doubt on the overall conclusions shared by traditionally cautious, decidedly non-radical science organizations such as the National Academy of Sciences and the AAAS, which represents an estimated 10 million individual scientists through 262 affiliated societies. Doubters also make selective use of the evidence, noting that the warming of the late 1990s did not persist from 2001 to 2008, while ignoring the fact that the first decade of the 21st century looks like it will be the warmest decade on record.
December 11th, 2009 at 10:55 am
The unelected Bureaucracy (and sadly, the same Supreme court that gave us Kelo) is doing this without the consent of the government…and thereby inviting and inciting those of the Sovereign People (remember that line form the constitution? We, the People…?”) to take extraordinary action. If this kind of nonsensical political regulation continues, the results may well be reminiscent of the 60′s. Not me, of course,…I’m just sayin’, is all.
December 11th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Say Steve, back before human emergency response units, who put out the fires caused by lightning strikes? How has the Chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) factored this item into his/her ideological view of the world?
Show us some real science, not a statement from some fluffy CEO with minimal education and community consensus building courses under their belt.