In case you missed the debate on the Senate floor today over the Waxman-Markey bill, here is a video segment of interest.
Jackson agrees that the USA effect on global CO2 would be minimal, Chu does not.
Washington, D.C.-During a hearing today in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, EPA Administrator Jackson confirmed an EPA analysis showing that unilateral U.S. action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would have no effect on climate. Moreover, when presented with an EPA chart depicting that outcome, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said he disagreed with EPA’s analysis.
“I believe the central parts of the [EPA] chart are that U.S. action alone will not impact world CO2 levels,” Administrator Jackson said.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) presented the chart to both Jackson and Secretary Chu, which shows that meaningful emissions reductions cannot occur without aggressive action by China, India, and other developing countries.
“I am encouraged that Administrator Jackson agrees that unilateral action by the U.S. will be all cost for no climate gain,” Sen. Inhofe said. “With China and India recently issuing statements of defiant opposition to mandatory emissions controls, acting alone through the job-killing Waxman-Markey bill would impose severe economic burdens on American consumers, businesses, and families, all without any impact on climate.”
Along with Administrator Jackson’s statement, Energy Secretary Chu responded with an unequivocal “no” when asked whether he agrees with the analysis depicted in the EPA chart. “No, I don’t’ agree with that [EPA] chart,” Chu asserted.
“I was somewhat surprised that Secretary Chu disagreed with EPA’s analysis of what would happen if the U.S. acts alone to address climate change, which cap-and-trade supporters claim is a global problem,” Sen. Inhofe said. “EPA’s analysis that global greenhouse gas emission levels can only be stabilized with meaningful, mandatory action by China and India is widely accepted. I extend an invitation to the Secretary to see whether he wants to clarify his remarks.”
Source: EPW
A fuller version of the pledge-drop story:
G8 polluters drop pledge to cut emissions
Ron de Hann makes a good point.
AGW is so pernicious and infective an idea that we cannot rely on the Chinese to not fall for it, knowing they will not comply to it, but also knowing our leaders will comply.
The sooner AGW is stopped as a political power, the better for rational and thoughtful discourse.
Keith Minto 00:13:28
His answer isn’t political correctness. His answer is a proper, honest assessment of the political impact of a political decision.
I’m surprised that Chu didn’t clarify his “no” with an explanation along the lines of “it’s difficult to convince India and China to do something if we don’t believe in it enough to do it ourselves”.
Even senators can figure out that 20% reduction of 20% of the total is only a 4% reduction of the total.
Pass the bill.
Feel the massive pain and intrusion.
And hopefully learn something about swindlers.
I see no other way for Americans to learn.
Stupid people have to learn the hard way.
The Kyoto Protocol did not even make a dent in the CO2 numbers.
Most developed countries were expected to cut-back their emissions by 5% from 1990 levels by now. Some are reporting they have reached the target, but if this were true, there should have been a noticeably change in the CO2 trendlines – well there isn’t.
A lot of regulation, bureaucracy and economic dislocation has resulted from Kyoto without any benefits. Normally, that would be thought of as failing a cost-benefit test.
Charlie: your point is?
This reminds me of prohibition. It only lasted 1913 to 1933 and required amendments to the US constitution. I think we will have widespread cheating. Nobody likes to be forced to do something. This will be unpopular and will the survivor watching who wants to be a millionaire crowd will only learn under the government control.
The effects of imposing a massive energy tax on our present economy could well be catastrophic. The irony is that it is only our wealth that allows us to fret about such silliness as atmospheric CO2 in the first place. I can only hope that radical enviro-fascism becomes an early casualty if our economy collapses.
On one hand, It’s quite entertaining to watch idiots fiddle about with an impossible mission. While on the other, I think every discussion with the idiots should include the reminder that the entire theory is Bubkes. Eventually, the truth would gain favor simply because it’s easy, and EASY is what politicians do best. Then again, I must never underestimate the power of PC. “Mr Chuless, we see that your chart includes a number of pigs flying. Can pigs really fly? (since a congressman wouldn’t know without expert advice)” To which Chuless replies: “YES!”
Let’s change that Chu answer: “Yes!, because the president said so!”
@Pierre Gosselin (05:40:09) :
“Stupid people have to learn the hard way.”
Yeah, but… I don’t want to be taken down with them.
Leon Brozyna (04:35:45) :
Do my ears deceive me?
Bang on Leon! She kind of blew it on this one though.
Pierre Gosselin (05:39:45) :
Pass the bill.
Feel the massive pain and intrusion.
And hopefully learn something about swindlers.
I see no other way for Americans to learn.
Alas, you may be right. Some stupid people, however, may still not get it.
Charlie (05:21:45) : I think the real point is that we don’t need to reduce carbon emissions at all. What we really need is to build out nuclear so we can quit funding the Middle East – we will run out of economical oil at some point, but I see no reason to stop using oil and coal now.
BBC’s climate change blog – is the climate warming or cooling?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/climatechange/2009/07/is_the_climate_warming_or_cool.html
@ur momisugly Pierre,
The problem is that once that is passed it will be with us for a long, long time. For example, in the US we paid the Spanish-American War Tax in our telephone bills (the name was changed to a ‘Federal excise tax’ to disguise it) from 1898 until 2006. Although the local call excise tax of 3% is still collected.
The Chu disagrees with the EPA.
Jackson disagrees with Chu.
They can’t both be correct.
They can both be incorrect.
Given some time, Sen Inhofe can dismantle their bluffs.
irony. If california can “show the Way” to the planet and lead us out of CO2 metabolism and combustion, can I stomp out starvation by “showing the way” and going out for lunch???
Remember 1 billion people on a 400 calorie diet maintains lower CO2 emissions. Waht about 2 billion on starvation diets? Remember is takes less calories to boil less rice. (and lower aerosol emissions)
“So in theory US action can solve whole problem, but it isn’t ideal.”
To do that would require defining what the “whole problem” is, if there is in fact any problem at all. It appears to be beyond our current level of comprehension of how the climate system works.
I’m just glad that those in the Victorian era did not decide to select our future for us…
Roger Carr (05:09:52) :
A fuller version of the pledge-drop story:
The source for this is AAP. Australian AP. AP has long been firmly in bed with the AGW clan, and therefor suspect in its reportage. For that matter, all MSM apparently emanates from a central source as it all adheres to “core messaging.”
If there is only one lesson learned from this exercise it may well be to read independent (blogs – NOT MSM) from opposite perspectives, to get at something like the truth.
On the other hand, a “pledge to keep warming under 2 degrees C?” Sure. If this were a virtual world and it only required programmatic input. Sheeesh!
OT but really, really funny:
HOUSTON – Plans for the world’s largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle have been scrapped, energy baron T. Boone Pickens said Tuesday, and he’s looking for a home for 687 giant wind turbines.
Pickens has already ordered the turbines, which can stand 400 feet tall — taller than most 30-story buildings.
“When I start receiving those turbines, I’ve got to … like I said, my garage won’t hold them,” the legendary Texas oilman said. “They’ve got to go someplace.”
Pickens’ company Mesa Power ordered the turbines from General Electric Co. — a $2 billion investment — a little more than a year ago. Pickens said he has leases on about 200,000 acres in Texas that were planned for the project, and he might place some of the turbines there, but he’s also looking for smaller wind projects to participate in. He said he’s looking at potential sites in the Midwest and Canada.
In Texas, the problem lies in getting power from the proposed site in the Panhandle to a distribution system, Pickens said in an interview with The Associated Press in New York. He’d hoped to build his own transmission lines but he said there were technical problems.
Wind power is a big part of the “Pickens Plan,” which was announced a year ago Wednesday. Pickens has spent $60 million crisscrossing the country and buying advertising in an effort to reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign oil.
“It doesn’t mean that wind is dead,” said Pickens, who runs the Dallas-based energy investment fund BP Capital. “It just means we got a little bit too quick off the blocks.”
Pickens announced in 2007 plans to install the turbines in parts of four Texas Panhandle counties.
He had hoped to complete the four-phase project in 2014 and eventually have 4,000 megawatts of capacity, enough to power more than one million homes. The total cost was expected to approach $12 billion.
Renewable energy provides a small fraction of electricity used today, but the wind and solar sectors are the fastest growing in the U.S. In 2008, the U.S. became the world’s leading provider of wind power.
Like most industries around the world, the recession has hurt wind turbine manufacturers and wind farm developers. Companies have shelved development plans and laid off workers.”
I actually hope this bill passes. Maybe this will be the final straw that will wake the american people up so they can get these people out of congress. All of them. We need a reboot!
The UN is on the case….
http://unfccc.int/meetings/intersessional/bonn_09_2/items/4913.php
Bonn Climate Change Talks – August 2009
The Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) will hold intersessional informal consultations from 10 to 14 August 2009. The meetings will take place at the Hotel Maritim in Bonn,Germany.
The AWG-KP and AWG-LCA informal consultations are being held in order to facilitate the successful completion of the work of both Groups, and to enable COP 15/CMP 5 to reach an agreed outcome in Copenhagen in December 2009.
Pierre Gosselin (05:39:45) :
Pass the bill.
Feel the massive pain and intrusion.
And hopefully learn something about swindlers.
I see no other way for Americans to learn.
No Pierre
Why pass the bill?
Besides the argument of entirely fraudulent science, 56 % of Americans does NOT want to spend any money on Climate Change.
That is a MAJORITY.
Since when is a majority of the people not respected?
Waxman promises the opposite, increased costs all over the place.
There is no basis for this climate bill among the US public so send it to the bin.
The EPA really needs to get their act together with that chart, keeping it the same size, but increasing the years-axis from 20 to perhaps 50-year increments, thus stretching it to the year 2240, and giving it much more of the desired alarmist effect. Al Gore is probably just itching to use that lift again, with his much-loved hockey schtick debunked.
Chu was asked a direct question, and botched it. Liars need to have a script in order to cover their lies, and this question obviously was unexpected. Expect to see a lot of spin and back-pedaling. Should be fun to watch!